Dark Investments
by Sideos
Summary: With his life grinding to a halt, Dib feels as though he no longer has any control over his destiny. However, a chance encounter gives him the opportunity to rebuild his future. Power, control, immortality. The only cost is his humanity. Is it worth abandoning an empty life in the light for a fulfilling eternity in the dark?
1. Snapping Point

_SO HELLO THERE CHILDREN. It's time to gather round and let ol' Siddy here tell yah a tale or two about things that I came up with._

 _This particular idea was one I came up with years ago. Almost ten years ago actually. In fact you can go and see the very first iteration of this idea on my profile page. That version was a collab called 'A Better Kind of Evil', this is a MUCH BETTER AND COOLER AND SMARTER AND MORE HANDSOME VERSION of that story._

 _So I won't hold back on the minor spoilers. Yes, there are vampires in this story and yes, Dib becomes one. But how? Why? Those are all new questions with new answers to be found. This story has the same theme as the original, but is vastly different in almost any other aspect._

 _Anyway I'll quit me blabbin' and let ya'll get to the readin'. HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY!_

* * *

"No ma'am, we can't fix your computer from here. You'll have to bring it in. No we can't do it over the internets. Yes I get that it's broken now, you'll have to bring it in. Ma'am I- No ma'am I- Please just- Ugh."

I put the phone down with no small amount of irritation and took off my glasses with one hand while pinching the bridge of my nose with the other.

This was hell. This was _literally_ hell. I had always believed that an underworld existed, especially after seeing the Pig-Demon underworld as a child. However I never really considered how much worse it could possibly get.

Working customer service at JojaMart was possibly the worse variant of hell I had ever been through. Making it even more terrible was that I was easily the smartest person there. Not to brag but I was. I had a one fifty IQ. The kind of IQ that should be sitting in some lab in Harvard doing fancy looking math or working on some ground breaking thesis.

And yet here I was. Stood behind the counter of the IT department of JojaMart wearing a dumb looking blue shirt and blue khaki pants. I was also here because really I was the only one who knew how to actually fix the computers and tablets that people brought in. Most people simply reinstalled the whole thing, taking the easy route.

And to be honest I could see why.

I always knew people were stupid but you never really realize _how_ stupid until you actually work in customer service. People weren't just stupid, they were insane, obnoxious and complete assholes the vast majority of the time.

But at the end of the day I only had myself to blame for being here.

I put my hands down flat onto the counter top, silently thanking the surface for its calm and comforting coolness while trying to gather my thoughts back together. Dealing with irate old people always threw me off. I was getting close to calm when my thoughts were suddenly and horribly shattered by a shout that was like a whip cracking on my back.

"Membrane!"

I turned my head slowly to give a tired look to my boss, Mr Morris.

It was no small exaggeration to say I hated my boss, which I considered another milestone in achieving the American dream. My boss was a short, chubby man with beady blue eyes, jet black hair and a stupid looking polka-dot bow tie. He wore what he always seemed to wear, that dumb black suit with his blue JojaMart shirt under it. And yet even though I towered over him, being that I was six foot two, I still found myself cowering slightly at the sound of his voice.

"What did I tell you about talking to customers on the phone?"

I held back a sigh. "To always be polite and remind people to buy JojaMart memberships."

"Exactly." He folded his arms across his chest, "And what did you not do?"

I paused, then raised an eyebrow slowly. "... any of that?"

"Don't get smart with me, kid." Mr Morris aimed a finger dangerously at my chest like a smoking gun, "You need to fall in line and do as your told. Next time I hear you talk like that to a customer-"

"Yeah but-"

"No buts!" Mr Morris snapped at me. "If I hear you talk in that tone to another person I'll put it down on your monthly review, do you understand?"

I wanted to protest and tell him the customer was an angry, out of touch idiot but instead I did what any self respecting adult would do. I swallowed my pride and answered. "Yes."

"Yes _what_?" And Mr Morris grinned in a fashion so slimy that my skin crawled.

"Yes... sir." Ugh, I hated calling that horrid man 'sir'.

"That's right. Now back to work and don't lean on the counter! It looks bad to the customers!" And with that Mr Morris turned and walked away, adjusting his ugly bow-tie as he went.

The moment his back was turned my mind filled with the image of me rushing over there, grabbing his head and smashing it against the customer support counter-top. It filled with me kicking that smug face of his halfway across the store. It filled with me giving the man more middle fingers than he could count, quitting, and storming out of JojaMart singing showtunes.

But none of that actually happened of course. It didn't happen because I already had two marks on my review and I seriously couldn't afford another one. This job was literally all I had and if I left it I would have to begin that nightmarish process called job hunting all over again... and with a record like mine it was amazing I had _this_ job to begin with. To be honest I think I got it only because Mr Morris wanted to brag about hiring people who went to Hope's Peak College. Not graduated mind you, just attended.

The moment Mr Morris was gone I of course leaned onto the counter and patiently waited for the next angry soccer-mom to arrive complaining that her bratty kid had broken her Cyborg phone and inwardly I wished upon whatever lucky star or eldritch force was out there that I could change my life.

By the time I got out around nine it was already dark. I threw my trenchcoat over my shoulders and ignored the stares and whispers of some of the other employees as I left. Everyone knew my story even if I never told anyone about it. I didn't need to, it had shown up in most of the local papers when it'd happened and had no doubt done the circles on social media. It's always nice to have something you know you'll never live down right there on the front page for all to see.

Still, I got into my car and took a moment to breathe for myself, possibly for the first time since that morning.

My car, who I had named Scully, was my own little bit of self. It may have been a hunk of junk with one door colored differently from the others, an engine which always seem to threaten a total cut out and almost no turning fluid whatsoever so it screamed every time I turned a corner, but it was mine. All the old styrofoam drinking cups, the discarded receipts, the 'Live Long and Prosper' bumper sticker and the orange and blue portal air freshers dangling from the rear view mirror, it was all mine. One of the few things in the world that I owned completely. I'd bought it off my father of course but even so. It was mine.

I started Scully up and set off out of the car park and down the road. As I did so I took out my MePhone and held down the on-button to bring up the call assistance, the moment it activated I called out. "Glados, call Space Jerk," And I placed it an old coffee cup sitting in the car's one remaining cup holder to keep it upright.

"Calling Space Jerk."

It went to exactly three rings before the line clicked and an old, familiar yet still irritating voice called out, "Hello? Who is this? HOW DID YOU GET THE NUMBER OF THE MIGHTY ZIM?"

"Zim you moron it's me." I rolled my eyes at his reaction. "It's always me. I'm the only person who ever calls you."

"Oh. Dib-stink. Greetings." He clearly relaxed on the other end, "What are you calling about?"

"I just finished work." I stated bluntly, "Wanna hang out?"

We weren't friends. Zim and I were certainly not friends. I could never, ever be friends with that space-bug. But we had long stopped being enemies, at least to the point where we no longer tried to kill one another. It was mostly because Zim had lost his reason for conquering earth way back when we were going through high-skool.

It had happened suddenly, almost overnight. One day he had walked in looking like his entire world had fallen apart. In a moment of pity, after several hours of suspicious observation, I had asked him what was wrong. Weirdly enough he'd told me straight out. The Irken Empire was no more. It'd stretched its vast military too thinly and had been hit suddenly by several rebel forces, causing it to collapse on all fronts. Red and Purple had fallen out, the falling out had become a fight, which had become a civil war splitting the Empire in two, then it had become even smaller as pieces of it had broken away to become their own warring nation-states, kingdoms and republics.

It was apparently complete chaos out there.

Either way Zim no longer had anyone to serve, no one to answer to, and as such he'd decided it was best to keep quiet and stay put. 'At least until the Empire comes back' as he'd put it.

I knew as well as he did that the Empire was never coming back.

And so an uneasy peace had come between us. I agreed not to try and expose him anymore as long as he didn't try to conquer the planet. Besides, with the bullies and jerks we had to deal with on a daily basis in high-skool it was probably for the best. But we weren't friends. Just ex-enemies who also hung out together sometimes.

"Hang out? I can't." The answer came swiftly. "I'm working."

"Working?" I frowned, though I kept my eyes on the road. "On what?"

"The Mi-Go want a machine that turns nitrogen into acid." Zim announced with an obvious grin over the phone, "And I'm building it for them."

This was how he kept busy with his life. Building death machines for others. He was helping spread the chaos and war that the galaxy was engulfed in and he loved it. I had to admit I was jealous, he was living his dream, I was spinning my wheels in a dead end job.

"Ugh, fine." I rolled my eyes as my car groaned around a corner. "I'll entertain myself tonight I guess." Which probably meant leftovers in the fridge and Utube videos until I fell asleep. Same as almost every other night.

"Ew, human, I don't even want to imagine what that-"

"Goodbye, Zim." And I swiftly hung up on him. God that alien was annoying, though perhaps what was more annoying was the knowledge that he was basically the only link I had left to the world of the supernatural.

As a child I had seen bigfoot using the belt sander. I had seen aliens, ghosts, demons, witches and zombies. And yet as I grew older all of that seemed to fade away. Any paranormal sightings I had were few and far between. My spelldrives no longer seemed to respond and any ghost-summoning rituals I tried failed. Even the Swollen Eyeball network had descended into nothing but conspiracy theorists, creepypastas and meme spouting trolls.

By the time I had entered college I felt as though the supernatural world had abandoned me against my will with the one exception of Zim. And yet I had held onto the slightest sliver of hope that maybe someday I would see something special, something unearthly once more.

Of course it was that belief that had landed me where I was now.

I tried not to think about it. I didn't like to think about what had happened because it made me depressed and honestly I didn't want to be depressed. I wanted to keep trying to look forward, even though I increasingly felt like I was looking right at a brick wall.

When I pulled into the driveway of my house I felt another blow to my already fragile mood. Sitting there, parked neatly in the driveway, was my sister's car. It was a black, sporty thing that no twenty one year old should be driving. But of course Gaz was not only spoiled rotten but she had perfect grades and no criminal record. She was the good child, amazingly enough. I was the crappy first attempt.

As I opened the door and quietly entered the house I hoped that she was in her room somewhere playing whatever new shiny game had stolen had attention that week.

I was not so lucky.

"Where were you?"

I hate that tone of voice she used. That commanding, smug tone she adopted whenever she simply expected me to bow to her whims.

I was the older child, dammit, why wasn't I bossing her around? Oh wait, because she was literally made of anger and black gothic hate.

I turned my head to see her sitting on the couch, legs up on the coffee table with her gameslave 3DZ in her hand. She was dressed in her usual black colored clothing from head to toe, though the green t-shirt with the Doom-Guy on it was new. Probably bought with that credit card her dad had given her.

"I was driving home, Gaz. You know, from that job I have?"

"You missed my text." Gaz's eyes turned to locked onto me angrily.

"What te-" Timed just right, as if the Gods themselves wanted to pour more crap on me, my phone suddenly buzzed in my pocket. Taking it out I read 'Evil Sis: Get Chicky Licky. I want chicken face plate with extra large poop cola'.

"... oh." I looked up and shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry Gaz, I mean I obviously-"  
"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Go get it."

I paused for just a moment in disbelief. "... Gaz I just got in from a really horrible day and-"

"I said _go get it_." She rose suddenly from the couch and stood there, game in hand, giving me the best death-glare she could clearly muster. I had no idea how someone who just barely came up to Zim's tiny height, even after he had gained some inches in the years he'd been on earth, could somehow appear so intimidating. However despite the irritation pouring off her I managed to hold my ground, perhaps only out of the reserves of bitter tiredness I had build up within me.

"Let me at least get changed or something, Gaz. I'm still wearing my stupid uniform." I turned from her and began walking quickly to the stairs.

"You have ten minutes." She commanded as I approached the staircase. "If you you're not ready by then I'm dooming you."

Without thinking I, for reasons beyond my control, loudly and stupidly replied. "Dooming me? What are you, twelve?"

Of course I immediately regretted this decision and just as I got to the top of the staircase I turned to see Gaz standing at the bottom, eyes flashing dangerously up at me. "I will doom you, Dib. I have spent all day working on papers for classes I don't even care about while listening to my stupid room-mate talk about fighting crime with her sisters or something stupid. So yes, I am not in the mood to deal with your stupid 'woe-is-me' bullshit. Do what I say or I'll doom you."

Woe-is-me? Who the hell was she to tell me how hard her life was when she was living on freakin' easy street? I had to deal with angry customers demanding the impossible, a boss that hated my guts and all the while suffering with the fact that unlike her I had to buy my own gas, pay my own bills and actually give housekeeping to our father. She had it far, far easier than I did and _she_ thought she had the right to complain?

It had to be the bitterness, it was the only reason why despite having a terrible day I was for some reason arguing with her. "Why should I? You're old enough to go do it yourself."

"But I'm not a failure and I've got important things to be getting on with, like my Fighters of the Storm Two tournament tonight." A horribly self satisfied smirk grew on her lips. "You've got nothing. So get on with it already."

I was suddenly struck with a vision of myself screaming at her. Throwing that gameslave of hers out the window, wrecking everything in her room. Showing her plain and simple that I was not her damn slave.

But I didn't. Instead I simply turned my back on her and went off into my room to get changed.

I was so angry at her for doing this to me but I was angrier at myself for knowing that I would go get her food anyway. Because of course I would.

Dammit, Why the hell was I doing this for that spoiled brat? Why the hell was I doing anything for anyone? I was a genius, I should be out there chasing ghosts and fighting demons or something. I should be putting the Mystery Skulls to shame. But no, because of my stupid obsessive behavior I had ruined everything for myself. The supernatural world had abandoned me, my boss was a jackass, my only not-enemy was a successful jerk and my sister was... well she was things I wouldn't say in polite company.

Every day I felt as though I had tripped up somewhere on the road of life. Every day I felt like somewhere someone had given me the wrong directions and I was becoming more and more lost within the weeds. Everyone was doing better than me... and everything constantly reminded me of my mistakes.

I pulled on some fresh clothes and put on some spray and then I took a moment to look at myself in the mirror I had hung on my bathroom door. I looked tired. More than tired, I looked exhausted. I looked like I needed to do something, anything, for myself. Instead I was bowing and scraping to everyone else. I'd had a horrible day backed up by horrible people in an increasingly horrible life.

Then a thought hit me. Why _should_ I have a dull night because I couldn't hang out with Zim? Why _should_ I go get Gaz her stupid fast food chicken?

Why couldn't I go out and do... I dunno, something. Anything. Whatever came to mind first.

I paused as I pulled my trench coat back on, now dressed in my usual dark clothes and gray t-shirt with an orange lambada logo, a 3 in the corner and 'I want to believe' written under it. I liked this t-shirt, it made me happy.

And the more I thought about it the more I should do things that make me happy. I had some money in my pocket, not much but some. I had my car. I could go out. I could go watch a movie or take a walk in the park and do some good old fashioned paranormal hunting. Why not? What was really stopping me? Gaz? Zim? My boss?

I was an adult, dammit, and one mistake in the past shouldn't bring my entire life to a grinding halt. I deserved nice things as much as the next guy, I deserved some real me-time and I felt my hands curl into fists as I decided I was going to go out and get it.

I smiled to myself as I made my decision. Screw everyone else, I was going out to do something fun and to hell with what anyone else thought.

Turning to my bed I got onto my knees and reached under it, scrabbling around for what I knew was there. I soon pulled out a backpack and within it was already packed a notepad, a digital camera, some rope and some other bits and pieces designed to protect me against whatever supernatural thing might be out there.

It was heavy as I swung it onto my shoulder, but the good kind of heavy. The 'I'm going on an adventure' kind of heavy. I strode out of my room with new purpose, though I made sure not to reveal too much of it as walked back down the stairs and past where Gaz was still playing her gameslave. Thankfully her eyes were glued to the screen, though as I approached the door I heard her voice annoyingly call out, "Don't be long."

"Sure." I gave her an empty reassurance. "I'll be back in a bit. Later."

She didn't reply. I walked out and shut the door behind me, taking a moment to breathe a happy sigh of relief before getting back into Scully, throwing the backpack into the passenger seat. I started the old girl up and then got out my phone, cycling through my songs before choosing something loud and thumpy. The sounds immediately filled the car as I pulled out onto the road and I found myself grinning.

I hadn't felt so energetic in a long time, my whole body was tense and excited. I was seizing the night and all that came with it.

* * *

 _SO YEAH THAR YA GO KIDS. I hoped you all enjoyed the read and are all aboard for a new ride into this fic here thing. Fun fact, this is the first time I've ever really done a story in first person, so I hope that comes across alright. Please tell me if it doesn't and what I can do to improve bits and pieces._

 _Now usually I would note down the many, many references here but I'm gonna take a chance and leave it to you guys to point them out. I'll note them in the next chapter and so on and so forth etc, and I'll make sure to shoutout anyone who guesses the references correctly! Anyone who gets them right also gets a cool point. You want the cool points. You crave the cool points. Give in to the cool points._

 _HeCallsMeHisChild already has one cool point for being super helpful in reading this and giving me pointers and all sorts._

 _Anyway yeah, so hopefully you enjoyed all of this first chapter and you hit that review button and tell me what you think. I really do try and respond to all feedback I get, no matter how long or short it may be. Next chapter will be along sometime either next week or the week after depending, but hopefully the update schedule will be steady and regular._

 _Till next time true believers!_


	2. A Walk In The Park

_ALRIGHTY THEN. So first of all THANK YOU MUCHLY to everyone who reviewed and faved and followed and all that from the last chapter! It made this old IZ fan smile it did._

 _Anyway I would like to kind of apologize right now for the awful, awful slices of Spanish I put into this chapter. Yeah I don't speak Spanish in any way shape or form so please forgive my terrible attempts at using it._

 _So yes, READ ON DEAR READERS FOR NOW IT GETS SRS WITH THE VAMPS YO._

* * *

This night was a total bust. I had driven off into the darkness with the energy of a firecracker about to explode and now I was sitting alone under a tree in the Gabriel Reyes Memorial Park, drinking a bottle of water I'd bought on my way here. I'd decided that yeah, I would stop at Chicky Licky... not for Gaz of course, but for myself.

After one chicken wing fast food meal that probably shaved a year off my life I decided to go do something I hadn't done in a very long time. I decided to go hunting for creatures of the night in my local park. In my youth the park had been crawling with monsters, mutants, weird creepy things that scared the bones off anyone who went near them and that wasn't just because it was in a pretty shady area to begin with. That had never deterred me of course, I had simply pushed ahead despite the risk of being mugged, kidnapped or worse.

Never managed to get any really good photos though, which was typical of my luck.

Now I was sitting here after a good two hours with nothing to show for it but a whole bunch of missed calls from Gaz, followed by a flurry of very angry texts and a bunch of photos of what I thought might have been a wendigo but turned out to be someone playing Pokemon Go in a badly made Pikachu costume.

So here I was. Alone. Drinking water and deleting pictures from my camera. This was a total waste, but at least it was a waste that I had chosen rather than it being thrust onto me.

I took a small amount of pride in that. This had been my night for better or for worse and it felt good to know that I had gotten out and actually done something I enjoyed for once. I'd forgotten how much I'd missed this. The night air still had some of the humidity from the day, making it cool but not cold. The park held the smell of fresh grass and swaying leaves. The moon glowed through the mournful vale of grey clouds and I could feel the rough bark on my back through my trenchcoat along with the cold plastic of a camera in my hands.

This was what I should be doing. Not wasting my life working in the stupid IT repair section of JojaMart. I sighed however as I knew that even this moment was fleeting. Eventually I'd have to go back home, suffer the wrath of my little sister then tomorrow go and do my nine to six shift at JojaMart. The cycle would continue, the wheel would keep turning and I'd be dragged along behind it with rope around my ankles.

I finished the last of my water in a swift gulp and put the bottle into my open backpack, which was laying right at my side. I'd barely used anything in there, though honestly I hadn't expected to. I knew that the chances of me finding anything were slim and even then I wasn't going to chase after it. I was done with chasing, not after what happened last time I got too eager to capture something on film.

The camera made a small beep as it finished deleting the blurry and entirely worthless pictures and I got up, pulling myself to my feet and steadying myself against the tree with my free hand. Grabbing the backpack I slung it over one shoulder and decided that twelve midnight would be a somewhat reasonable time to head home.

Though a sharp growl in my stomach made me decide to drop by the Quick Stop across the street for a midnight snack. A paranormal investigator's rich rewards... though knowing the content of my bank balance it'd be a bar of soylent green and another one dollar bottle of water. I was trying to cut down on soda, the last thing I needed was a dental bill.

As I walked back through the park towards the parking lot and further on towards the shop, I couldn't help but feel that horrible weight setting back onto my shoulders once more. I'd taken the night for myself sure but I inwardly wrestled with the idea that it'd ultimately produced nothing. I could have achieved the same thing by going out to get Gaz's food and watching steams all night.

But surely this had been a good thing, right? Going out, getting some night air, doing something that was at least a little fun. The conflict raged in me even as I walked across the parking lot, thankfully noting that my car was still there and hadn't been broken in to, and across the empty street to the Quick Stop.

It's a little known fact that twenty four hour grocery shops are weak points in the reality of the world, along with old motels and highway attractions. Places where the barriers between worlds wore thin, especially at night, and one certainly got that impression when looking at this place. That slightly unreal florescent light streamed out onto the street through half-draw metal shutters, along with the neon sign above the store and the windows were covered in posters advertising products that I'd never heard of and would never try. The store seemed so weirdly removed from the dark, empty world around it, like an alien ship landing in the middle of a barren field.

And yet it also fit right in. A model example of life in the near-city suburbs. Cheap and easy convince built out of cheap and easy materiel, lit by cheap and easy lights and filled with cheap and easy food.

The doors swished open and the cool, slightly recycled air of the shop greeted me. I glanced to the front desk but no one was behind the counter, and from beyond a back door I could hear something whirring loudly. Probably some kind of cleaning machine. I shrugged and moved on, stepping into the food isles and looking along them with the kind of bored interest. I wanted to pick out something that wasn't just sugar in a bar form.

Before I knew it I had found myself wandering to the back of the store when I heard the automatic doors swish open once more.

I glanced up and immediately regretted it. The man who wandered in looked like he'd been scraped up and put together out of sewage parts. His shirt barely fit his skinny-fat body, his blonde hair was limp and greasy and his skin had pox marks. I wasn't stupid, I could tell right away that this guy was on something, though what I had no idea. The best thing to do would be to ignore him, pay for my food and leave before he freaked out and did something horrible.

I grabbed whatever was close at hand, which was some kind of oatmeal bar, and went towards the freezer to get a bottle of water. However the man moved directly towards the front desk and the moment he reached it he banged on the counter and loudly yelled out, "HEY! HEY ANYONE IN THE BACK?"

I'm not sorry to say I winced at the sound of his voice. He sounded like he'd dumped a brewery into his head. For a moment I considered just abandoning the idea of buying anything and leaving. I reminded myself however that as a child I'd faced certain doom on several occasions, I couldn't turn into a coward now I was an adult. I'd just wait for him to buy whatever he wanted, buy my own stuff and go.

No big deal.

The whirring sound from the back ended and from out the back came a woman who really didn't seem any older than I was. I had to admit for a moment I stared. She had long, dark red hair tied back in a pony tail, dark eyes and a slim build with tanned, Latino skin. She was actually very pretty, though I had to admit no matter how nice she looked the whole effect was ruined by the crappy green and brown uniform she had on. Poor girl, someone that good looking shouldn't be shoved into the kind of terrible uniform that wage-slave jobs like that entailed.

"Gimmie some Huff and Puff cigarettes." The man's demand was swift and harsh.

"Whatever." Her voice had a hint of an accent, making her seem just slightly exotic. Even so I turned my back to open the fridge door and grab a bottle of water. Behind my back however I continued to listen in, feeling the tension in the store rise with every second.

There was the sound of a package being slapped down on the desk.

"That'll be seven ninety-nine."

Suddenly the very air in the store seemed to change, just as I heard a soft metal clicking sound. I turned my head and my eyes widened.

The man was pointing a very sharp and very large looking hunting knife at the woman.

I froze. My heart went from normal to crazy in the space of a second and my stomach flipped. Inwardly I cursed myself. I was the self-styled hero of earth! I'd faced down a psychotic little green alien a thousand times as a child! Why couldn't I do anything now? I felt the cold of the bottle seeping into my fingers but still I didn't move. Shamefully I just stood there and watched as the look of shock ran across the young woman's face.

However what she said next did throw me off just a little.

She groaned in irritation and rolled her eyes, "I'm not even supposed to _be_ here today! Ugh!" Her expression faded from shocked to... a kind of bored annoyance. "You don't want to do this. Seriously."

"Look, bitch, I need money so just empty the till and I won't stab your stupid bitch face."

"Walk away, right now. I'm in no mood to deal with people like you tonight."

"Are you arguing with me?" His voice was rising, even shaking a little. Clearly whatever courage the man had gained through the substances he had put into his filthy body weren't holding out. For a moment he seemed to take a single step back, then he screamed some vague profanity and the knife sailed in an arc through the air.

The bottle fell out of my hand, along with whatever snack bar I'd picked up. I moved before I realized I was moving but it was all too slow. I could see it already in my mind's eye, the knife crossing across the woman's face, blood flowing everywhere, screaming and horror and pain.

But that didn't happen.

Because in the blink of an eye she had grabbed his hand.

And then there was a crunch like the sound of a thick branch being snapped against concrete and his hand was pointing the other way. The wrong way.

The man screamed but a second later he was stopped by a fist smashing full force into his face. He didn't so much as fall down as fly backwards across the store, landing right into the middle. There was blood splattered across his face and the smell of iron and copper filled the stifling air. His nose was practically flat and I could spot several teeth in a small trail leading towards him.

My eyes were entirely focused on the terribly still body of the man for only a moment before being drawn away by the woman who now jumped over the desk and walked towards him mumbling. "Maldito sea, I hate meth-heads." Then she growled slightly and I saw them.

Her fangs.

"Can't even take a drink, ugh." She knelt down beside him and shrugged. "Ni modo."

She had fangs. She was talking about taking a drink. She had just snapped a man's wrist with one hand and punched him several feet across a store.

She was a vampire. I was looking directly at a vampire.

And to think, I thought this night was a bust.

"You're a vampire." I spoke without even thinking and immediately I slapped my hands over my mouth.

The woman, amazingly, jumped a little in surprise and her eyes flew up to spot me hanging by the fridge. She blinked at me then slowly rose to her feet. I noted her hands twitching into fists and for a moment it seemed that she was unsure of exactly what to do.

I saw now her eyes weren't dark, they had simply appeared that way. They were actually a sort of dark, deep blood red.

Slowly my feet began to move. Inch by inch I started to make my way towards the exit... the one which stood far behind the vampire Quick Stop girl. How the hell did I get here? Suddenly the world of ten minutes ago seemed an eternity away and now I was walking through some horrible nightmare.

That blood smell refused to leave my senses and I was even a little thankful. It kept reminding me that this was real. There was a broken man laying on the floor with blood gushing out of his nose and mouth and with a wrist that had clearly been snapped like a twig.

The woman watched me for a moment longer before saying. "You saw all that?"

"Yeah, I did." I replied in a voice that, to my own surprise, was almost calm. Perhaps my years of battle-banter with Zim were actually paying off. In fact, the longer the situation continued the more it seemed to come flooding back to me. Be calm, keep your eyes on the enemy, try to get to more favorable ground, keep aware of your surroundings. If I could get to my car I'd have a better chance of getting away, if I could even get outside I could maneuver better.

I also remembered, in that moment, that I had a small bottle of holy water and a stake in my backpack. Like I said before, going out on these late night missions meant I always went prepared for anything. There was also some old silver passed through my family, a lighter, salt, a book on demon trapping circles and a can of underarm spray.

What? Chasing paranormal creatures was sweaty work.

The woman turned to face me fully, her red eyes suddenly roaming over what she could see of my figure and giving me the distinct impression I was being eyed like frozen meat at a supermarket.

"You know I can't just let you go, right?"

My blood froze.

"It'd be easier if you just let this happen." She began walking towards me, clearly cutting off my main escape route. "Seriously, hombre, don't even try to run."

So I immediately turned and ran. My legs took me in a circle, darting across the store and hopefully moving around to the exit. However the vampire was fast. Really fast. Before I could even get to the center isle she was in front of me like a flash and I saw, for a split second, the long fangs in her mouth and the way her nails had become razor-sharp claws.

Acting on instinct I did the first thing that came to mind. I grabbed the closest thing I had to me and threw it at her full force.

Perhaps acting on instinct of her own the vampire sliced at the object, though what happened next was probably not her intention. The air exploded into white powder and for a moment I could no longer see or breathe.

It was flour. I'd thrown a bag of flour at a vampire.

And incredibly it worked.

Running entirely on snap decisions I turned and darted as fast as my legs could carry me down the center of the store while behind me the vampire screamed out in anger and confusion. The doors, thankfully, opened before me and I was out into the cool night air. Because of the trajectory of the flour my glasses were still clear enough for me to see and I quickly spotted my car, still parked and patiently awaiting my return.

I made an immediate be-line for it but before I could even get close something flew and smashed right into my shoulder.

I yelled in pain, falling into a stumble and almost tumbling to the floor. I heard the sound of something plastic bouncing off into the night and stupidly I stopped and turned, looking back to the gas station. There she was, standing in the half-light of the store almost completely in silhouette apart from those red eyes which seemed to glow in the darkness.

From the front of the store she called out, "Alright, you got lucky, once. But you can't escape." Again my stomach flipped as her voice rose in irritation. "And now you've made me mad because this is my only uniform and you got flour all over it!"

"Sorry, I know that feeling." I called out before I could stop my stupid mouth from moving. "I work at JojaMart."

The vampire paused and then grinned. "So ending your life would be doing you a favor? Well, thanks for the tip."

And then she started running towards me. I started running away, not towards my car however, towards the park. Why I chose the park I wasn't sure but in my head I rationalized that I knew the park like the back of my hand. It was my battleground and perhaps there I could win.

Win? Was I seriously thinking about winning against a freakin' vampire? One who had literally less than five minutes ago just twisted a man's wrist around with one hand?

Apparently I was. My heart was pounding, adrenaline was rushing through me, I was having a thousand thoughts a second and I was doing everything I could not to throw up everywhere out of fear and yet... this was the most alive I had felt in a long time. This was what I had missed. The chase, the madness, the bizarre reality of the situation. The feeling like my life was on the line but with a sliver of hope that I could succeed. The knowledge that I was confronting the unknown and fighting to survive.

Oh how I missed you, paranormal world. Even if you were trying to kill me.

Incredibly I entered the park first and immediately turned to my right, diving into a bush which I knew was actually hollow in the inside despite looking remarkably full. Only a second later the vampire shot past me. Literally shot past me. Her speed was incredible and part of me wondered if the only reason I'd beaten her to the park entrance was because she'd let me. I heard her footfalls to come a stop and the world went quiet apart from my own breathing, which I tried desperately to contain despite my burning lungs.

I could hear everything. The sound of the distant park waterfall, a pair of cars which passed by behind me, the sound of some a thousand insects calling out into the night.

The sound of the vampires footfalls walking through the park slowly.

Part of me expected her to call out insults and to explain her master plan. However I reminded myself that she certainly was not Zim and this was far, far more serious. She was going to kill me. She was going to drain my blood and leave me in some dumpster somewhere for the police or raccoons to find, whichever arrived first. What she was going to do with the man who was bleeding out on the Quick Stop floor I didn't know but I doubted he had a nicer fate awaiting him.

As quietly and as calmly as I could I reached into my backpack and began rummaging around for what I knew was in there. The holy water would help some, hopefully, and the wooden stake would prove invaluable. My fingers closed around the small bottle which once contained eye-drops but now was filled with holy water. Holy water that I got from an exasperated Catholic priest... ten years ago. Hopefully blessings did not have expatriation dates.

I steadied my breath and whispered to myself. "Alright Dib, this it is. Time to be a hero... and not to talk to myself because the last thing you need is for her to-"

"I _can_ hear you, you know."

"Right. Shit."

The world seemed to explode at that moment. I leaped out of the bush just as she appeared before me, fangs out and grinning wickedly, claws flying at breakneck speed towards my chest. Thankfully I had already popped the top off the holy water and I squeezed the bottle with all the effort I had in my exhausted body. It hit her square in the chest and up her shoulder just as her claws grazed past me, missing my chest but only because they raked across my left arm first.

My arm exploded in pain and I screamed out as the sleeves on my trench coat were torn to ribbons, followed by plenty of red blood. However it seemed that my holy water worked as she yelped in both shock and pain, steam immediately rising from where the water had hit her, soaking through her work shirt and onto her skin.

She recoiled almost immediately, patting desperately at where the holy water had hit her and I took my chance to dart away, rushing deeper into the park and heading for a dense clump of trees and bushes which had once represented my favorite camping spot. Now it seemed to offer my salvation.

There was a scream of rage and I knew she was once again giving chase.

If only I could get to the trees I could-

Something hit me. Something hit me _hard_ in the side and instantly the wind was completely knocked out of me. I flew sideways and landed into a tree, practically folding around it like a sack of potatoes. Everything hurt. _Everything_. Every part of me was in pain as I fell into a bush, this one was not hollow. This time I felt sharp branches and twigs sticking into my sides and my arm felt useless at my side.

My vision was swimming. I could feel my backpack at my side. I could feel the keys in my pocket jabbing into my thigh. I could taste blood in my mouth. I could feel my heartbeat through my temples. I felt like I was about to throw up. Up above the moon emerged through the clouds and for a second the world was lit with a silver light.

Then a shadow fell over me. A pair of terrifying red eyes looked down at me with a mixture of pity, irritation and... hunger.

"It's been a long time since I've had to actually fight for a meal." She spoke calmly, coolly, as if our chase hadn't even bothered her, though I could see her shoulder was still smoking just slightly.

I gasped for breath and again my stupid mouth would not stop, even now, even at the end. "I'm... glad I... could... enter... tain... you."

She smirked. Then laughed lightly. Well at least I made a cute girl laugh before I died horribly, that's good, right? "You're a funny guy. Shame I've got to kill you, hombre."

Then she reached down towards me.

* * *

 _GASP. HOW WILL OUR HERO ESCAPE? HOW BAD WILL THE SPANISH GET? HOW LONG CAN THE CAPS LOCK HOLD UP? TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR ANSWERS!_

 _Well actually the caps lock ends now._

 _AND ALSO I GOTTA LIST ALL THE REFERENCES FROM LAST TIME SO HERE DE BE._

 _JojaMart + Mr Morris - Both taken from the wonderful game Stardew Valley! That game be too addicting yo... but FARMING GASP._

 _Hope's Peake College - This one is a bit of a fudge but the origin is Hope's Peake School from Dangan Ronpa. Dib was a SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR._

 _Scully - From the X-Files of course. Why wouldn't you name your car Scully?_

 _Glados + Portal air freshners - From the awesomely awesome Portal series!_

 _Mi-Go - The Mi-Go are from the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Expect a TON more references from his works, especially the Cthulhu Mythos._

 _3DZ - The 3DS obviously._

 _Doom Guy - THE DOOM GUY. RIP AND TEAR. From Doom 3._

 _Fighters of The Storm 2 - A somewhat complex reference because it's a reference to a thing within another thing. Basically it's from Overwatch, BUT IT'S SOMEWHAT INTERESTING BECAUSE OF A REFERENCE MADE IN THIS CHAPTER! See if you can get what I'm pointing at with the two references._

 _'Roommate fighting crime with her sisters' - The joke here is that Bubbles from Powerpuff Girls is Gaz's roommate. Because ha-ha clashing personalities!_

 _Mystery Skulls - BECAUSE MYSTERY SKULLS. ALWAYS MYSTERY SKULLS. Also Child this has to be a new record right for how fast I've referenced the Mystery Skulls in a fic. First chapter and all._

 _'Orange lamba logo with 3 in the corner' - Half Life 3. I BELIEVE PEOPLE, I BELIEVE._

 _ANYWAY so next chapter will be by next week! Leave me some reviews and tell me what you think and if you wanna see anything referenced or name dropped in the next few chapters! Hope you all had fun, thanks for reading and see you all next week true believers! EXCELSIOR!_


	3. The Fall Into Shadow

_ALRIGHT GUYS AND GIRLS. Today is another chapter to this fic that you are reading right now currently. My voice is in your head. That is my superpower. Also I can drink amazing amounts of tea._

 _I know this is a day late but yesterday was a busy busy day and today is not so yeah. Deal with it. I also will mention that this chapter is one of the longer ones so you can all have fun reading how long it is. LOOOONG._

 _Anyways I'll let you get to reading. ENJOY._

* * *

If you had told me when I woke up that morning that I would end it being brutally murdered by a pretty Latino vampire I would have laughed and gone back to checking tumblr for worthwhile paranormal stuff. Of which there was rarely any.

Funny how life has a way of getting you into these situations. And by these situations I of course mean certain death.

A strong hand grabbed my shirt and lifted me up slowly, making me feel like a child in the hand of a body builder. I looked down through my askew glasses and saw her smile at me, those long, sharp fangs of hers practically glinting in the silver moonlight. There was something utterly inhuman about her in that moment, something beast-like and terrible, something that had crawled out from the darkest corners of the damned earth to feed on the living. I'd read about vampires before and they'd always been described as evil, powerful things at best and tragic Byronic heroes at worst but such words didn't do them justice.

Her body was slim, almost petite, and yet in that moment she radiated strength and danger. It was like looking right into the jaws of a wolf or the eyes of a striking snake. Certainly she seemed more like a horrific force of nature than any human definition of evil. It was to know that death was sudden and harsh and unforgiving. It was to know that no matter what I did I was doomed.

My life was over. She would end it. It was a simple and brutal equation, one as old as time itself.

Her other clawed hand raised up and she was clearly aiming for my throat. One swift strike and it would be over.

I closed my eyes. At least I would go out doing what I loved.

Four things suddenly happened in that moment.

First was that a sound filled the air that was far louder than it had any right of being simply because of how silent the world had been a split second ago. It was the sound of my phone ringing with Gaz's Dethklok ringtone from within my backpack.

Secondly was that for the smallest of split seconds her terrible red eyes darted from mine to my backpack in surprise.

Thirdly was that whatever survival instinct that existed within me kicked in and kicked in _hard_. _Literally_. My leg swung forward so fast that I barely noticed what I was doing until it connected with some part of the vampire, causing a sharp yelp of pain and, somewhere in my currently half-unconscious brain, I thanked my lucky stars that I had steel toed boots on.

Fourthly I fell. I fell like a dropped watermelon and hit the floor with just about the same level of grace. I landed on my backpack, within which I heard something crunch and the phone call swiftly ended and some other things immediately stab me in the back, causing me to roll over a few times in pain. Of course that only reminded me that every other part of my body was in serious pain at that moment, especially my ribs.

I suddenly felt a warm wetness spread along my left arm, or more accurately, I was reminded that it had always been there since my arm had been probably torn to ribbons thanks to the vampire's razor-like claws. I had been hurt badly before and had become very well acquainted with my first aid kid during my battles with Zim but this was different. This was blood, lots of blood, and the inability to feel some of my fingers. There were alarm bells in my dumb ape-man brain and a rising bile in my throat.

This was bad. Very bad.

And yet my mind wouldn't focus on that. All it would focus on was that for some bizarre, unexplained reason, life had decided to give me just one more chance to beat this monster.

I was not going to waste it.

"¡Mal contigo!" The vampire woman screamed out at me as I grabbed my backpack and found two items which I desperately needed.

I turned onto my back as just as she reached down over me.

She was met with a face full of flame.

Amazingly my left hand still worked. How and why I didn't know, even though at this point I really couldn't feel any of my fingers but somehow they had managed to do the job my body had asked of them and held up the body spray I kept in my backpack. The other, still working hand had flicked on the lighter and held it up. The result was one very weak but very thankful hand-held flamethrower which immediately threw the vampire back.

She screamed as the flames licked at her and only by throwing up her arms at the last second did she manage to save herself. Even then the flames clearly caused far more damage than they had any right of doing as her scream turned into an almost pitiful wail.

I was running on empty and I knew it. I had about two more minutes of movement and action left before any adrenaline in my system wore off and I would collapse into exhaustion, blood loss and pain. Two minutes until I was utterly defenseless.

Two minutes to make it all count.

If time could slow it did in that moment when I truly experienced the flight or fight response. I could turn and run and perhaps manage to get away before she recovered. I would go on living and perhaps return better prepared and better armed to take down the evil monster who worked nights at a Quick Stop... or I could end it now while I was weakened, bleeding and probably moments from passing out.

I chose fight. I also realize that for a genius, I'm not very smart.

This time I didn't bother reaching into my backpack, I simply turned the thing upside down and allowed the contents to dump out beside me. The stake was immediately noticeable. Old, oak wood, smoothed down and ending in a sharp, ironically fang-like end. I grabbed it with my one good hand and with an effort that had to be in some part inhuman itself I launched myself up and at the monster before me.

I don't think she was expecting my attack. I don't think this because she took her arms down just as I was jumping at her and the look of utter and complete disbelief on her face was incredible. It was almost funny in a horrible, black comedy kind of way.

I collided with the vampire hard, knocking her right off her feet and together the two of us hit the hard dirt floor with a crumple. I screamed in pain as I landed, my entire body shaking from fear and pain and I almost fell off her from the shock of the collision but I had made sure my shoulder hit her square in the chest, the stake tucked under my bad arm for the moment. The second she was on the floor I sat onto her and grabbed the stake from under my arm, one hand gripping it proper and the other held on the top, pressing it down.

Just as I felt the sharp ends of her claws reach my jugular vein.

And there we were. Me with my stake resting dangerously above her heart and her with her claws right at my throat and a furious anger in her eyes.

Blood was running down my injured arm, down the shaft of the stake and dripping onto her shirt.

She was panting. I was panting harder. Every part of my body felt like it was about to break down and rot. My lungs couldn't take in enough air, my head was pounding and my legs were like jelly. Everything I had however was fueling the look of murderous rage I had on my face and hopefully that alone was enough to stop her from simply throwing me off like a paper doll and tearing me up into small bite sized pieces.

Apparently it was because she simply remained under me, her red eyes glowing dangerously in the dark and her claws pressing just enough into my throat to draw a single trickle of blood. One which I noticed her gaze hungrily followed.

"Don't even think about it." I breathed out. I was amazed I could form the words, but then again, endlessly speaking regardless of anything else going on had always been a talent of mine, "Make one wrong move and you're dust."

"Me? You're the one about to fall over." She half-chuckled back to me, "Do you want to take a break? I've got some Poop Cola back in the store. You know, catch your breath before you go unconscious?"

Dammit. "If I fall over I'm going to fall forward and this stake will go right through your heart. So yeah, maybe I will just take a quick nap. I'm sure we'll both benefit from it." All I had left was bravado and stupid words and she damn well knew it.

So why hadn't she killed me already?

"Seriously though, hombre, get off me or I'll throw you off me."

"If I get off you, you'll kill me."

She seemed to consider this for a moment but then she said something that really did throw me off guard. "How about we make a deal? If you get off me, I won't kill you."

"And in return?"

"In return you don't tell anyone about me." She shrugged and out the corner of my eye I saw the sharp claws of her hand return to its original human shape.  
"How can I possibly believe you?" I tightened my grip on the stake, feeling almost as though as long as I had that I couldn't lose control of the situation. "You tried to tear my damn throat out."  
"And you beat me."

"You still tried to kill me. That's hardly a great trust builder."

"I was only trying to protect myself, imagine if our situations were switched. What would you do?"

I thought about it for a moment and honestly, I couldn't argue with her logic. I had seen her punch a guy across a store and if I knew anything about me it would be that I would not let this lie. Even if I had escaped I'd be back to try and finish the job, or at least expose her to the world.

My strength was being robbed from my limbs with every second and at this point I knew I had nothing left in the tank. Slowly I moved to one side and scrambled back until I felt my back hit a tree. I held the stake out in front of me like a gun though at this point it'd be absolutely useless.

Slowly the vampire got to her feet, holding her hands up the entire time. I could still see her red eyes flashing and hints of those sharp fangs in her mouth, but otherwise it was as if the inhuman monster I had fought only a few moments before had vanished. I was once again looking at the pretty Quick Stop cashier girl.

There was a silence that hung heavy in the air before she spoke. "What's your name?"

"Dib."

"Dib what?"

I didn't respond, instead I simply glared at her.

"Okay, okay, hombre. My name is Maria." She flashed a fanged smile at me and then the silence set in again.

"Why did you have holy water and a stake in your backpack?" She asked suddenly, red eyes narrowing at me in curiosity. "Are you a hunter?"

"What?" I blinked in confusion before my sluggish brain realized what she'd asked. "Oh. No." I couldn't help but smirk. "I'm just a guy who hunts the paranormal for fun."

"You do this for fun?"

"If you can believe it. And honestly I wasn't even hunting anything, I was just investigating the park." I winced at my ribs and brought a hand around my body. "Being there when you hit that guy was a total accident. I was about to go home."

"Bad timing, huh." She walked slowly, carefully, towards me and I tensed, gripping the stake in my hand tightly. She stopped and held her hands up. "I'm done fighting. You pinned me. No one has pinned me in fifty years."

"Well." I nodded a head at her tiredly. "I'm glad I have that honor."

"No, Dib, you don't understand, do you?" She knelt down before me, her red eyes locking with mine. I realized now that I could see her better in the darkness, that whatever terrible beast I had seen before was gone. There was a look to her eyes, to her face... she wasn't angry. She was smiling. " _No one_ has beaten me. In _fifty years_." She cocked her head just a little. "Are you sure you're not a hunter? You're not ex-army or something?"

"No. Why?" My voice was lower now. What was she getting at? There were cogs turning in her head, though that wasn't to imply she was stupid in any way. Obviously she wasn't. This was a kind of cunning that I had seen sometimes in Zim. Perhaps it was a predator's cunning.

"I know you from somewhere. I'm sure of it." She raised a hand to her chin. "Were you on TV?"

My gut went a little colder. "... kind of. It doesn't matter. I'm not famous."

She seemed to focus on me a little while longer before her eyes widened suddenly and she clicked her fingers together and pointed at me. "I know who you are! Dib Membrane. The guy who almost burnt down Hope's Peake College!"

Despite everything. Despite the fact I was sure some of my ribs were broken, my arm was bleeding like crazy and I was probably only a few minutes from passing out due to blood loss I couldn't help but feel an instant flood of shame wash through me. "Yeah. That's me."

Great. Even the most vile creatures from the depth of the dark corners of the Earth knew about my colossal failures. Was the entire universe aimed just to laugh at me? God, sometimes I seriously thought it was. Before I could even stop myself I curled up a little and babbled out, "Look it was a stupid accident, okay? I didn't mean to knock those candles over. And what idiot lights candles in a dorm room! That dumb girl was never reprimanded for that! Oh no, it was all my fault because of course it was!"

"I heard you thought you were chasing something." She was grinning and even though I could see her fangs as clear as day I wasn't afraid. Instead it only made me feel worthless. A moment ago I had a stake to her heart, now she was giggling at me over my stupid past mistakes. "What was it?"

I didn't reply. I was sick of being laughed at.

"Come on. You just managed to kick my ass, hombre." Maria sat down onto the grass across from me. "Tell me. I'll google you it if you don't."

I glared at her a moment longer then sighed. I couldn't keep my rage up. I was too exhausted. "I was... chasing a chupacabra. Or what I thought was a chupacabra. Turned out it was a cat in a costume set up by my stupid dorm mates."

The vampire laughed and grinned widely. "Are you serious? Why would you possibly think-"

"I wasn't thinking." I butted in sharply. "I was... look, you're the first _real_ supernatural thing I've actually seen since I was a kid, okay? Back then I thought the same thing and I got... carried away." I looked down in shame. "So there. Laugh it up, _vampire_."

"I will. That was dumb of you." She shook her head slowly, fangs flashing with her smile. "Still, Hope's Peake. You must be smart, way too smart for JojaMart."

I scowled. "You try getting a job with arson on your record."

"Try getting a job when you can't go out in daylight."

"Touche."

A new silence settled between us and I looked back to her, trying to seem intimidating even though inwardly I felt like jelly. Oddly enough the vampire didn't move or say anything either. Instead she seemed to be looking at me with an almost inquisitive gaze. Her eyes quietly darting across my form. I felt oddly naked before such a gaze and if I hadn't been beaten to hell and back or if she hadn't revealed her true nature I probably would have blushed deeply. It wasn't often that women as pretty as Maria gave me such a look.

"Well this has been lovely but I need to get going." I announced and began pushing myself to my feet. "So if you don't mind I think I hear a hospital bed calling my name."

"Wait." Maria stood up with me and she put her hands onto her hips, as if she had come to some sound decision. "I want to ask you something."

" _You_ want to ask _me_ something?" I raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean that's fine but when I've stopped being a bloody, broken mess I'm going to ask you a ton of questions so I guess-"

"Are you happy with your life?"

Okay, that was out of no where. In fact I was so taken back that I almost fell backwards onto the tree once again. Instead I managed to stick a hand out at the last moment to stop myself. "What?"

"Are you happy with your life." Her head turned just a little as she continued to watch me with those cautious, dangerous red eyes. "Because if I was to take a guess... I'd say no."

I didn't reply right away. I wasn't sure where she was going with this but my gut told me I wouldn't like it. And yet, I couldn't help but be... intrigued by her question. Curiosity killed the cat but I knew that I couldn't stop myself even if I was about to walk off a cliff. It was, after all, why I'd decided to fight the vampire instead of fleeing to safety. "What do you care?"

"Do you want me to be honest, Dib?" She took a step towards me, this time I didn't react. She took this as some kind of signal to close the space between us. Now I could smell her perfume, sweet and soft, and the beauty of her face was more evident in the dark moonlight. "Because I don't think life is working out for you."

"Life sucks for everyone but you get over it." I mumbled more to myself than anyone else.

"That's what the powerless tell themselves when they go to sleep at night." She flashed that fanged smile again, though this time there was something new to it. A predator's grin, yes, but something else... something alluring and seductive. Something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up while at the same time making my heart beat faster and my breath quicken. "The real truth is that the powerful are the ones who took control of their lives through any means necessary. They took control and now rule the weak. That's the law of nature, even in the dark."

Her hand was on my shoulder. When did her hand get on my shoulder? Why wasn't I stopping her? I felt myself fall back against the tree, cold bark pressing onto my back but she followed my body, stepping closer to me.

"Life may have thrown you away but I will tell you this, Dib Membrane. _You. Deserve. Better._ "

My body seemed to have stopped aching for a moment. The air had frozen and the world seem very far away. I could feel the chill of the air on my skin, the warmth of my blood soaking into my sleeve. My head was swimming just a little but that didn't matter because my gravity was locked by Maria's red eyes which I couldn't turn away from. "What are you saying?"

She leaned in close, her forehead almost touching mine. "Allow me make you a vampire."

"W-what?" No, no way. She wasn't being serious, this was a trap, Dib you idiot get moving before-

"I'm serious. No tricks. No lies." Her hand was suddenly on my waist. Holy hell I was not ready for this. I could fight her one on one, I could burn her with fire and holy water and threaten to stab her though the heart but I had no defense against this. My body felt like it was on fire. "I will make you like me. I will show you a better world."

"A world of darkness." I hissed to her in a desperate attempt to stop myself from falling into this terrible rabbit hole before me. "I'd become a creature of the night, living on the blood of others."

"And is that any worse than how you live now?" Maria's soft hiss was in my ear. Her cheek was brushing against mine. My hand reached up to push her away but somehow it rebelled and moved around her waist as she continued to whisper. "Etching out a pathetic existence, each day the same as the last because of one mistake you made perusing your dream. If life has tossed you aside than let it. Leave it behind, leave all of humanity behind forever. You deserve better."

"I... I do." I wasn't thinking anymore. All I could feel was the coldness of her body against mine and the terrible thrill it gave me to be so close to something so dangerous, so terrible. All it would take was one bite. One bite and I could move on from the grind of my life. I could move on from my smug sister, my successful rival, my horrid boss, my pathetic life. Hadn't I proven tonight that I was capable of more? Hadn't I proven that I was great than the sum of my existence?

I deserved better. Why _shouldn't_ I have it?

My eyes closed as I felt her fangs move across my skin, hunting for the beating vein in my neck.

"I ask you three times, Dib Membrane." Her voice seemed to be in my head, whispering to my darkest desires. "Do you accept the embrace?"

"Yes." Shadows seemed to wrap around us.

"Do you accept the embrace?"

"Yes." My skin felt too tight against the tips of her fangs.

"Do you accept the embrace?"

"Yes." And I fell into darkness.

* * *

 _WOO DID YAH ENJOY IT? Dib got bit by a lovely vamp lady. THE VAMP IS STRONG WITH THIS ONE._

 _Anyways here are thar references to this thar chapter and also from last chapter (at least the ones I remember)._

 _Last fic:_

 _Gabriel Reyes Memorial Park - This was why I had 'Fighters of the Storm 2' in the first chapter. Because GASP APPARENTLY OVERWATCH IS REAL IN THIS WORLD. Also streams and whatnot. Also there is another reason why I chose Gabriel Reyes as the reference. Firstly because he's Reaper in overwatch, aka attached to death and darkness and stuff, so where better to get bit by a vampire? Secondly because if you didn't notice there's a lot of Latino-esk things going on in this fic, mostly because Vasquez himself confirmed that Dib is Latino or at least has a Latino heritage. Hence I wanted to kind of wanted to build that into Dib and into this fic as a whole._

 _Quick Stop - From Clerks. I was gonna have Jay and Silent Bob outside but I thought, eh, they'd get in the way of the vamping._

 _Solyent Green - IS PEOPLE._

 _In this fic_

 _'I'm just a guy who hunts the paranormal for fun' - A reference to the mighty ONE PUNCH MAN. Who is a guy who is a hero for fun._

 _'A world of darkness' - Reference to the awesome vampire RPG game World of Darkness. Check out Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines if you want probably the best RPG video game ever made. Seriously._

 _There are probably others but I can't remember them. Anyways, thank you for reading all of this and leave some reviews telling me what you think! Also if you want me to include any references that you wanna see, tell me and I'll see what I can do! Thanks again for reading! PEACE OUT!_


	4. Living With The Consequences

_ALRIGHT SO. Another late update! I guess! Though I'm starting to think updating on Saturdays is better cos people seemed to like it more that way. Anyway yes so UPDATE IS HERE._

 _Now, fair warning, the beginning of this update has some pretty gruesome imaginary involved so if you're faint of heart or just don't like reading about a lot of blood and horror than skip ahead. Personally I think I've read and written way more horrible stuff but even so. This is a horror story so... yeah. Just letting you all know right off the bat._

 _Anyway, I'll let ya'll read on. ENJOY PEEPS!_

* * *

I slept.

As I slept I dreamed.

I was naked. I was in a room. It was almost completely blank other than wide, arched windows through which shone a bright, blinding light. But that wasn't my focus. My focus was what was before me.

It was a cage.

Within the cage was a monster. It was huge and black and terrible with tufts of matted, ugly fur across its back. It had great claws on strange, elongated arms and long teeth, two fangs that reached down its great wolf-like maw and two horrible red eyes that would not leave me. It seemed to be wearing, or at least covered, in skin that had the texture of boiled leather and it stank of blood. Hot, raw, coppery blood.

I was thankful it was inside the cage though. There was no way it could ever escape the cage because it was locked within. I was safe here, in this room, with the monster in the cage.

The cage started to open.

And I stood there. I realized suddenly that I couldn't move. I hadn't been able to since the dream started.

The shining bright light outside began to fade as the door swung open. Gone was the bright, hopeful light. Now it was a deepening crimson.

I started to scream. Every atom of my being wanted to escape, to run, to flee from this horrific beast that was slowly coming out of the cage. Its pace was a dreadful shamble, as if it wasn't used to walking on its own legs. Then I saw it stretch its arms out and I saw it for what it truly was. It was bat-like but it had the head of a wolf. It roared at me and I did nothing but weep for my own fate.

It shambled towards me, slobbering jaws snapping at me and claws scraping along the floor as it did so. The room was becoming increasingly dark, shadows grew from every direction and everything was bathed in red. My arms were held at my sides, my feet stuck in place. I was screaming, screaming with more terror than I thought I had within me. It was only inches from me now and the stench of blood was overwhelming, consuming my senses. The smell filled my nose and could taste it on my tongue.

A wet snout was an inch from my face. It's hot, rotting breath was washing over me, making me want to vomit. I had stopped screaming, my lungs had run out of breath. Instead I braced for the inevitable as it consumed me.

But instead it did something far more horrific.

It brought down a claw and raked open my torso. I saw blood spill out of me at a rate that seemed almost unreal but it was hard to focus on that when pain unimagined filled my every second. The monster had literally carved me open, I could feel it. I could feel cold air on my insides and blood washing over my feet. I found myself screaming again though that should have been impossible. Blood filled my mouth and wouldn't stop pouring out between my lips. I felt as though I would die here in this nightmare room with this demon-beast clawing at me.

But it still did not kill me. It lowered its head slowly.

And it pushed its snout into me.

I had never experienced such pain in all my life. I wanted so desperately to die, for all of this to end. I could feel the inside of my chest brushing against its blood-covered fur as it entered my body, pushing itself inch by inch into me. Somehow it was managing it, somehow this monster was becoming part of me. Claws raked at my insides and chest as it pulled its entire torso into mine, gore and viscera spilling out around me. My blood. My bones. My flesh. It tore at my body as it pulled its vast, bat-like wings into me and followed it slowly with its hind legs.

I could feel it shifting inside me. Getting comfortable within its new cage.

Then two claws gripped my open torso and began to close me. Bones cracked and tore as it did so but somehow my flesh met and hideously began to seal itself. I tried to force myself to move my arms, to rake my nails against my own body, I would claw my own stomach out if it meant removing this creature.

But I still couldn't move. My body healed around the terrible wound and now I could feel it. I could feel it crawling under my skin, around my insides, somehow it was in my blood, somehow it was in my muscles. It was moving through every inch of me, exploring its new vessel. It moved into my legs and they felt... faster. It moved into my arms and they felt... stronger. It moved through my chest and into my heart which felt... colder.

I wanted to tear it out of me, to take nails to my veins but my body wasn't listening. I could feel it crawling up through my neck, sharp talons digging into my throat. I wanted to choke but I couldn't. I couldn't find the breath. It moved behind my eyes and slowly...

The monster was in my brain.

And then I woke up.

I felt like I couldn't breathe. I was struggling, fighting desperately for air as my limbs thrashed in my bed. I managed to kick the sweat-soaked covers off myself and scrambled back against the wall, my chest heaving as I gulped down the biggest breaths I could. I was shaking all over, visibly shaking.

My heart wasn't pounding though.

It actually took me a moment to register this as I clearly had more pressing distractions. However once I finally managed to gain access to my lungs again I put a hand to my chest and found that despite my fear, my absolute panic, my heart was not beating in my chest.

In fact, it didn't feel like it was beating at all.

And it was because last night when I had lost a lot of blood, probably broke my ribs and had been utterly exhausted by fighting with a supernatural creature, I had agreed to become a vampire.

See that's the funny thing about life. In the books you always read that when the main character wakes up the next morning they never can remember quite what happened until some time later but that's not reality. Reality is that most of the time, unless you had been drinking heavily, you always remember what you did the morning after. It's the first thing you think about when you wake up. It's right there on your mind like a grinning monkey, taunting you about what a complete idiot you are.

I had let a vampire bite me.

I have an IQ of one-fifty.

I am clearly a complete moron.

I groaned loudly and curled up into a little ball. Oh God, what the hell had I done to myself? How was I ever convinced that becoming a member of the living dead was a good idea? What, because I'd had a bad day? A bad week? A bad life? How was that possibly excusable for my actions?

What the hell was I going to tell Dad? Or Gaz? I would have to quit work because I couldn't work in the day! Or... well actually I could agree to take those night shifts they were always offering. Okay so the job situation wasn't so bad but what about everything else?

I had jumped into something head first and, just like last time, it was setting my entire world on fire. Great.

"You're an idiot Dib." I spoke to myself slowly, quietly, "You're an idiot and you've just ruined your life for the second time... or last time. Technically." I raised a hand up, looking over it carefully, trying to spot any new changes to myself.

Obviously I couldn't spot anything. My skin was pale, though it had always been pale, and as of that moment I didn't feel particularly evil or vampiric. I just felt like a complete loser. However I did noticed that I was dressed only in the y-fronts I was wearing yesterday. It hit me suddenly that the last thing I remembered was being bitten in the park. How in the hell did I go from there to here and end up almost naked no less?

The thought that Maria had done it sent a curious feeling of violation through me. Had she brought me back home? Put me in my bed and undressed me? That was a... weird thought to say the least. How did she get in anyway? The security around the house was tight and didn't she have to be invited in?

I couldn't think on this right now. Too many thoughts were going through my head and none of them had answers. Besides, I had more pressing things to get to. Like getting ready for work. Sighing loudly I forced myself to my feet, setting off across my room. Maybe after a shower and something to eat I would be able to get my- "AGH!"

I had stepped into a beam of light.

And it _hurt_.

For only a split second my foot had stepped out onto the small square of sunlight being beamed onto my bedroom floor but it seemed that one second was all it took. It was like being bitten by a fire ant but all across my foot. Immediately I sank back across my room and grabbed my foot, looking over it for any damage.

It was burned. It was actually burned. My eyes widened in shock as I looked over the now deeply red skin of my foot. It felt like I had been sitting out in the sun with no sunscreen for a year. However, almost as quickly the pain was fading and, to my amazement and a growing sense of horror, my foot healed itself. The skin slowly faded back to its usual paleness in mere seconds.

I couldn't go out into the sun anymore. Was the change really so fast? Was one bite all it really took for me to become a full vampire? It almost didn't seem fair, surely I should have some kind of chance to redeem myself, to go back on this cursed deal?

"Okay, okay, come on now." I let my foot fall and ran a hand through my messy hair. "You can deal with this. I just... I gotta get to the bathroom."

I crawled up onto my bed and quickly pushed the curtain closed, blocking out all light from my room. Breathing a sigh of relief I grabbed some UFO patterned pajama pants and set off to the bathroom. I had to wonder however would I even be able to shower? Don't vampires hate running water? My question was answered as I turned the shower on... no reaction. Okay, so that one at least wasn't true.

However just as I was about to get into the shower I caught sight of myself in the bathroom mirror. I immediately noticed two things. I had always had my father's amber eyes, as did Gaz and anyone else in our family. It was something of a Membrane family trait going all the way back to our great-great-great grandfather Sebastian Francisco De Membrania.

And now they were red. A somewhat light red, obviously they had mixed with the natural amber color but red nonetheless. The color of fresh blood.

I also noticed that I had two puncture marks on my neck, like the bites of two separate needles. This was not so much a surprise, after all a vampire had bitten me but what strange was that clearly my body could heal faster now. Why was it that those two bite marks weren't going away? Thinking on that, why was my vision still blurry without my glasses? My skin could heal but I still got stuck with crappy vision? At least I didn't lose all my Membrane family traits.

I frowned at this but pushed past it. I would have to find Maria again tonight and get this sorted out. I had to find a way to go back to being a normal human, surely there was a way and if not I would figure one out.

As I showered I thought about everything I knew concerning vampires. They couldn't go into sunlight, that I now knew was true from experience. Running water wasn't a problem, obviously because I was shampooing my hair. Holy water worked because it hurt Maria, though she recovered somewhat quickly but it stood to reason that holy icons would also work. Fire also was a no-no but fire was a no-no to practically every living thing on earth. She said she was defeated when I almost staked her so that was another myth confirmed. I was awake during the day and had slept in my own bed so coffins, native soil and sleeping in the daytime were out.

This was helping. I was sure it was helping. I was convincing myself it was helping.

I finished my shower and made my way to my room to get changed though before I left for work I knew I had to do a quick experiment.

I pulled on my usual work gear and my trench coat. Usually I would only take it with me to wear at night when I got out, if I wore it otherwise I would be melting in sweat thanks to the hot summer weather. I knew if I was going to make it to work on time I would need to cover as much as myself up as possible.

However this experiment was not one of covering myself up, the closed curtains proved that as long as the sun didn't directly shine on me I would be fine. This was an experiment in which the old world went up against the wonders of modern technology.

In my room I spent a good five minutes plastering my arm with the highest level sun screen I could find, which was pretty high considering everyone in the house burned like paper on the sun.

I drew back the curtain a little bit and allowed another ray of sunlight into my room. Taking a deep breath I steeled myself against what I was going to do, knowing that if this failed I'd be royally screwed for the rest of the day.  
Slowly I stuck my hand out and winced as I thrust it into the light.

Nothing.

Wait, something.

I opened my eyes to look at my hand, which while not bursting into flame or even going as red as my foot had gone that morning, certainly did not feel comfortable in the sunlight. It was like sitting slightly too close to an open fire, not painful but certainly not comfortable. Either way the experiment had been a success and I knew I could at least survive the day if I could plaster my face with sunscreen and make my way to work. At least there I could buy more if I needed to and my particular area of work wasn't in any direct sunlight.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. Okay, so, that was one problem solved. I knew however that it was only the very tip of an iceberg of all new problems I'd have to deal with. When I thought about it all I knew about vampires came what I had either read in books or seen in movies and both of those were unreliable sources. After all, one book said that running water could stop a vampire while another said they could stand in sunlight and sparkle.

One book was obviously better than the other.

I was lost in thought as I made my way out of my room and down the stairs, trying to think of every conceivable obstacle in my path.

One however I didn't count on, though really considering my behavior last night I really should have been expecting it.

"WHERE THE HELL WHERE YOU LAST NIGHT?"

Gaz's voice didn't just break me out of my thoughts it practically jolted me out of my skin. She had somehow appeared right at the base of the staircase without me even noticing, dressed in an oversized t-shirt and a pair of mismatched socks. It was obvious that she had been awake all night, she looked tired and yet even then she still had a terrifying aura of rage about her.

"You vanished and you didn't even answer a SINGLE one of my texts!"

I blinked at her, trying to think of some excuse. "I-Well-"

"WHAT. THE. HELL."

Usually I would have paled at her anger and probably begged for some form of forgiveness. However something inside me growled and I suddenly felt a surge of confidence run through me. "I took a night out for myself." I spoke with such sharpness that even Gaz seemed to be shocked for just a split second. "I'm not your errand boy."

"That's not the point." Gaz snapped as I walked around her, going to the kitchen to look for some breakfast. She followed after me but I didn't care. I had way bigger problems to deal with right now than placating her. "You could have been killed or worse. Why didn't you text me?"

"I didn't know you cared so much." Where was this coming from? I knew that I had a lot of bottled anger within me toward my sister, that was no surprise, but this was like that bottle had suddenly cracked down the middle and now it was leaking out slowly. I opened the fridge and looked inside but nothing there seemed appealing.

Inside I already knew why.  
"You're an asshole." Gaz snapped at me. "I know you did something last night. What was it? Was it some girl? Some guy? Did you burn down another college dorm?"

"What the hell is your problem?" I whirled on her suddenly and I saw her again react with that split second of surprise, a crack through that armor of anger she wrapped around her petite frame. My voice was sharp and harsh and mixed with all the shame and anger I held over that horrible memory. "I told you I had a crappy day and all you did was bitch at me so I decided to go out and do some investigating in the park. I stayed out later than I thought and I didn't reply to your texts because I'm a fully grown adult who can make his own damn decisions."

"And you didn't tell me that last night over the phone, _why_?" Gaz growled back, her hands clenching into fists. It was obvious that she wasn't used to this new, confident me. She didn't know how to properly react other than with more anger.

For moment it crossed my mind that now would be a damn good time to tell Gaz about my little vampire problem. I could cut out a lot of time and worry if I just let her know what had actually happened last night.

But to do so would only admit another moment of stupidity on my half. I would be admitting my own faults out loud and letting her know that, yes, once again I screwed up. My pride was already hanging by a thread as it was and I wasn't prepared to let her hold this over my head as well.

I had gotten myself into this situation, I would get myself out of it too.

"Because I knew you'd react like this. Lay off, Gaz. You usually don't give a shit so I don't know why you suddenly do now."

She looked up to me but before she could make eye contact I turned and walked away. That was something I didn't think she was prepared for just yet, and to be honest, neither was I. If I told her what I'd done she'd be locking me up in the basement.

I had no time to be locked up. I had thirteen dollars an hour to earn.

"I'm going to work." I called out as I got to the front door. "Later."

I could feel her eyes on me as I left but I didn't care. It felt good to shout back at her for once, to put up a defense against her unwarranted sisterly anger. Still it was odd that she was so concerned over my adventure last night. Usually she didn't give a damn, but then again, usually I would have texted her as I was coming home. Usually I wouldn't have gone out at all.

A pang of guilt twinged at my heart as I got into Scully. I probably _should_ have texted her at least once, just to let her know I was alive. I didn't feel bad about not getting her food but... maybe somewhere in that shriveled heart of hers she did give a damn on some level.

But then something else, some growling little beast within me told me that she was probably just upset she didn't get Chicky Licky.

I frowned and started up my car, setting off to JojaMart and another long day before my weekend started. I couldn't be so concerned about Gaz's feelings right now. The sun was on my face and it was making me want to recoil back. I pulled down the visor, which provided some relief, though my lap suddenly filled with old phone bills and bank statements which I then shoved into the glove box.

"Alright Dib, focus. You can get through this day. Just keep your head down, keep calm and carry on. Eye of the tiger. Primo Victoria. Push it to the limit. Other... confident sayings, I guess. Any possible vampire related worries can wait, focus on work and just... push through." I sighed, then forced a smile onto my face. "I can do this."

* * *

 _PRIMO VICTORIAAAA. It means first victory btw. It's from a Sabaton song. Dib listens to Sabaton. Anyway._

 _So YUS. This chapter actually had the least revisions of any chapter so far, only 4 versions of it in my work files! That whole beginning bit was written all at once too and is one of my favourite things about this story so far. It's so... ethereal and weird and horrid I looove it._

 _OH ALSO, yes that's Dib talking about his Latino heritage right there. His ancestor is a reference to the Venezuelan revolutionary Sebastian Francisco de Miranda. Maybe in this universe Dib's a distant ancestor? Either way I thought that was cool beans._

 _Other references... honestly not sure in this one, there's not a whole ton of them so yeah._

 _ANYWAYS, that's this chapter over and done with. I hoped you enjoyed and make sure to tell me all what you think! TILL NEXT TIME TRUE BELIEVERS!_


	5. A Red Letter Day

_IT'S FRIDAY SO IT'S TIME FOR AN UPDATE TO DIS HERE FIC HERE THIS BE._

 _Yes._

 _Anyway not a whole lot to say this week other than this chapter took a while to bring together because of decisions on whether to split it into two or keep it as one whole. You'll probably get what I mean by the time the next chapter is up. Anyway yes, it's time for a nice day at work for Dibbers, so we're in for fun times!_

 _HOPE YOU ENJOY! Go read now._

* * *

It didn't take long for my hopeful attitude to vanish.

I managed to drive to work well enough though by the time I got there I was already feeling fantastically uncomfortable. Apparently I hadn't thought of my own internal body heat when calculating how much sunscreen I would need and as such I had to run into the store by the time I finished parking. My whole face had gone red, every exposed piece of skin was burning up and I could feel a real fear rising in me at the thought of going back out there again.  
No way. Not until that damned sun went down.

I slyly bought two full bottles of maximum strength sunscreen and hid them under the IT desk for when I needed them. My face healed quickly enough and soon I found myself almost believing that it was just another boring day before my weekend off.

But then the hunger set in.

This wasn't the kind of hunger that gnawed at your stomach. This was something else, something I'd never felt before. At first I hardly noticed it but I found myself fidgeting, tapping my fingers on the counter top and being easily distracted. By the time afternoon rolled around however I could feel it.

More than that, I could _smell_ it.

It struck me that I hadn't actually eaten this morning. The argument with Gaz had driven me so quickly out the door that I didn't even bother grabbing a snack. I hadn't felt all that hungry anyway for reasons which had lingered at the back of mind.

But now I was.

It wasn't overwhelming but as time got on it became increasingly harder to ignore. I could smell the blood of everyone in the store. Every customer, every employee. Usually the scent of blood would make me turn my head or at worse feel sick. This however was... alluring. Like the smell of a well cooked meal but better, greater, far more tempting.

Every time someone came to my desk with a cut from shaving or a skinned elbow I found myself wondering what it would be like to taste the blood on my lips. To feel it flowing down my throat.

It was terrifying me.

The longer the day went on the more irritable I was becoming. Soon I was realizing it wasn't just the smell of blood, it was something else too. The longer I pushed it off the worse it became. Something inside me... inside my head, my arms, my legs, my entire body. It was me but it wasn't me. It felt like a wolf was stalking through my veins, a starving wolf who looked at every one not as a person but a walking meal.

And its growls were becoming increasingly louder in my head.

I did everything I could to avoid human contact. I vanished into the back to work on computers and tablets, hoping the cold machinery would distract my hunger. In a way it did, typing and watching lines of code run across my vision as I removed the truly irritating bugs and viruses certainly helped channel some of the moodiness I was having from not... feeding.

However it only lasted so long.

My eyes kept moving to the clock. Three hours left. Two hours. One. I was spending the last hour of work time at the front of my department. It looked better to Mr. Morris if I did, especially since I'd already been hidden in the back most of the day.

At least the sun was going down outside. I'd be able to walk out of here without plastering myself with sun screen.

But then what? Where would I go? What would I do? I knew I had to go home at some point and I knew I had to face Gaz about this... but after that? I couldn't lock myself up forever and I knew at some point I would need to drink blood. I had to. It didn't take a genius to guess what would happen if I didn't, not with this monster crawling within me, urging me to sink my newly acquired fangs into the necks of every customer who came to my desk.

"WAGE SLAVE."

"Wha-huh?" I had been so deep into my thoughts that I hadn't even been paying attention to what was right in front of me. Or rather, to who was right in front of me.

Standing there, looking like an overgrown teenager or a very small adult was Zim. He had his wig, slightly improved to be less painfully obvious and his contacts which were still that peculiar shade of purple. In a way it made me a little less paranoid about being found out with my blood red eyes and way-too-sharp incisor teeth. He was deep green and absolutely ridiculous and yet somehow he'd passed as human for years on this planet with only myself and Gaz even noticing his existence. And Gaz didn't even care.

I made a show of really leaning over my desk and looking down on him. It was something of a running joke that only I found funny. "Oh, Zim! I didn't notice you all the way down there. Next time bring something to stand on, you know?"

Zim visibly seethed at the jab but he managed to stop himself from screaming at me. "Very funny, human. It was even funnier than the fifty other times you said it."

"It's one of those 'get's funnier every time' kinda deals." I replied with a small smirk. Amazing how even when I was freaking out about my new vampiric afflictions, tormenting Zim helped me calm down. It was a slice of normality that I desperately needed right now. "Why are you here?"

"I came to buy some equipment." Zim replied with a casual, almost bored tone.

"... why are you really here?"

"I told you! Equipment!" Zim frowned up at me then looked to one side. "Also Gir wants to make bacon, egg, bacon, hairspray and dog food sandwiches."

Gir. How the hell was that little robot still going? I swear I'd seen him blown up about a thousand times already. Or smashed in the head, crushed, run over, all manner of terrible things and yet he just kept on going in that bizarre, insane manner of his. I had a theory he had self-repairing nanobots or something that kept him going but in doing so they kept repairing whatever was originally broken, keeping him healthy but insane. Kind of like Deadpool... but smaller and far more irritating.

"Alright, so this is just a social call, huh?" I folded my arms and leaned onto the counter. Something I really shouldn't do but did often anyway. "I guess I can spare five minutes." In truth I could spare much more. It'd been a slow day, which was rare for a Friday but one I was thankful for.

"Good, because I have a question for you." He pointed a sudden, sharp claw at me. "Where did you go last night?"

That was... surprising. Zim never usually gave a damn what I did, though it was far easier to take from him than it was from Gaz. Zim wasn't family after all. Still I narrowed my eyes at him and frowned. "Why are you asking?"

"No reason." Zim shrugged and looked away. "Certainly not any reason your smelly human brain could comprehend."

"Did Gaz put you up to this?"

"What? No! Never! The Gaz-beast does NOT command Zim!"

I simply raised an eyebrow at him. He folded his arms and tried to frown at me, but my silent interrogation worked like a charm and he snapped.

"Fine, yes she asked me to ask you what you were doing last night. She threatened to send me a nightmare world or something if I didn't. Though to be honest." A sly smirk appeared on his lips. "I too wish to know why you were out so late. What possible fun could you ever enjoy without the mighty Zim there to provide it?"

"Nothing." I turned away from him and began looking for something to do. Something other than talking about what a life ruining mistake I had made last night. God I was starving. My skin was practically crawling from the need for blood and Zim was no longer providing the kind of welcome distraction that I wanted.

Not when he began prying into why I needed distracting in the first place.

"Tell Zim!" The irken moved quickly around the stall and before I could really stop him he had lifted the small bar that separated the customers from the employee's and was now standing beside me.

"Zim!" I growled quickly at him, "You can't come back here, you'll get me in trouble."

"Tell Zim and I will return to behind the pathetic barrier which I so easily defeated."

"Jesus what is it with you and Gaz and prying into my freakin' personal life." I snapped at him suddenly, almost baring my teeth but turning away before he could hopefully notice. I was so hungry I was almost shaking but taking it out on Zim wouldn't accomplish anything. "I went out, alright? I did some good old fashioned paranormal hunting and stayed out really late because, surprise surprise, I haven't done any paranormal hunting all year. Happy?"

There was a silence from behind me and I turned my head to see Zim peering at me with a strange expression on his face. Suddenly he asked. "Why are your eyes red?"

A jolt of fear shot through me. I forgot how perceptive Zim could be sometimes, though it seemed to only ever show itself in flashes before vanishing again. Perhaps that's why he made a much better scientist than he did solider.

"They're bloodshot." It was the first thing that came to mind, though it sounded stupid in my head. My eyes weren't bloodshot, they were completely, utterly blood red. A complete color change. He had seen my eyes a thousand times over the years, there was no way he would fall for that.

"... humans are weird." He shrugged. "When will you all realize that specially designed optical enhancements are far superior to your pathetic naturally developed eyes?"

I literally breathed a sigh of relief. That was until something new decided to come along and ruin my day.

"MEMBRANE!"

I snapped out of my thoughts as that whip-crack like voice hit me. I turned my head to see Mr. Morris striding towards me

"Shit. Zim! Get the hell outta here!"

"Why is there a customer behind your- oh it's you." Mr Morris stood in front of my counter and gave Zim a weary look. "I've told you before not to come back here."

"You don't command me, Morris-Human!" Zim snapped at the man, making me bury my head into my hands. Oh God he was making this so much worse. If Mr. Morris didn't like me, than he _hated_ Zim. He had yet to do anything bad enough to get banned from the store but that didn't mean that he wasn't a huge pain in my boss's ass every time he came into JojaMart.

In some way I was actually pretty appreciative of Zim's efforts to irritate and defy Mr. Morris, it was certainly fun to see someone whom he couldn't fire piss him the hell off. On the other hand, Mr. Morris knew that Zim knew me, therefore, immediately took any anger he had out on myself.

It was a double edged sword, one which I really couldn't afford to be swinging down on me right now.

"Zim, please leave, we're going to close in a few moments." His eyes then shot to me. "Dib, a word. My office" And with that he turned and strode off.

The moment he was out of earshot I whirled on Zim, my anger almost tipping over. "Zim you asshat! Now I'm going to get in trouble because of you!"

"You shouldn't be here anyway. You're smarter than half of these ape-pigs." Zim waved my irritation away with a hand, not even looking at me.

Something inside me was straining to breaking point, something that was demanding I do something about this insult. I suddenly grabbed Zim's shirt and pulled him close. A move I didn't even expect to make but the hunger crawling through my body combined with the knowledge that I was now going to get a long lecture was pushing my willpower to its limits. My eyes locked onto his and I bared my teeth, my fangs no doubt on display but Zim's shocked eyes were fixed on mine.

"Dib! What the-"

"I'm going to get in trouble because of _you_! I almost got through this whole day without one damn lecture but now I'm probably going to get another write up thanks to _your_ dumbassery!"

The beast in my head was demanding I tear this green creatures throat out and display his entrails around my neck. I could almost feel the ends of my fingers becoming sharper, claw-like almost...

Suddenly Zim shoved me back and I let go, mostly out of surprise. It was like I had been lost for a moment, away from my own body and only looking on from the side lines. I blinked at looked to my own hand, which looked the same as always. When I looked up however Zim was already storming off.

"I am doing you a favor, human. That man is worth less than a Ferengi's promise. The faster you leave this place the better. Though maybe I shouldn't bother and just let you rot here."

"Wait, Zim, I-"

"Save it, Dib-stink." He waved a hand at me without even looking in my direction. "Do what you will. I don't care."

Goddamnit. I could have kicked myself, though instead I grabbed my counter top in frustration. Somehow I had managed to piss off the only person in the world I could even remotely consider a friend, if I could ever consider Zim a friend, and at the same time I'd probably just earned myself toilet cleaning duty for another two weeks all in one fell swoop.

And all because I couldn't get a damn handle on whatever it was that was howling within me to grab the nearest living thing and rip it apart so I could feed on it's precious, life-giving blood. Blood. The thought was now running on a permanent loop in my head. Find blood, feed, sate my hunger.

The beast in my veins was becoming ravenous.

I just... had to keep control. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. However, just before I left I noticed the counter top.

I had just crushed the edges of it with my fingers.

This... was not going to be easy.

My walk across the store was difficult to start with. I could smell every small cut, every cat scratch, every drop of blood that was in the place. It was like parading a gourmet meal past a starving man. I had to stay focused. I had to get through this day and find a cure for this curse.

This one meeting, then I'd go home, camp out there for a while then go back to the Quick Stop around midnight and find Maria to get some answers.

Easy-peasy lemon squeezy. Or so I hoped.

I opened the door to Mr. Morris's office and stepped inside.

"You wanted to see me?"

He was sitting at his desk like a tin pot dictator. Around him were his various rewards for kiss-assery and pictures of himself meeting various famous people. The desk was almost comically high with him sitting at it, the chair in front clearly lowered to make him seem all the more imposing. Every time I had stepped in here I couldn't help but think it was like a scene from the Great Dictator.

"Sit down, Dib."

I did as he was told but something was bothering me. I could smell blood in his office. I could smell _his_ blood. It was tiny, only a bare trace amount, but it was there. I could feel the beast within me crawling along my brain, demanding why I wasn't already sinking my teeth into his arm and draining him of his blood.

I gripped the chair tightly. Deep breaths, Dib. You're in control, not your hunger.

He gave me a smug smile, like he always did. "Dib, yesterday we had a chat. Do you remember what that chat was about?"

"Being polite over the phone."

"Being polite in general, really."

I didn't answer. I knew as much as Mr. Morris did that wasn't what our conversation was about but to say any more would just be walking right into Mr. Morris's trap. See I had long since learned this dance by heart. He would set up verbal traps, trying to get me to argue with him giving him excuses to beat me down and add things to my monthly review. Oddly enough he had never fired me, probably because he enjoyed demeaning and tormenting someone far smarter than he would ever be.

He linked his fingers together under his chin and that's where I spotted it. Right there on his cheek. It was a small nick, possibly from shaving earlier that morning. It had long since stopped bleeding but even so.

My eyes locked onto it and the beast roared within me. Blood. Fresh blood. Just under the surface of his slimy reptile skin. How easy would it be to simply reach across and silence him forever?

"I've had comments today from customers about your attitude."

"Huh?" I snapped out of my obsessive focus and looked back to his eyes.

"Your attitude, _boy_." He frowned at me, clearly annoyed at my apparent absent mindedness. "Apparently you were quite rude to an old woman who only wanted her phone fixed."

"I was? I'm sorry." I was in no mood to fight him, not when I felt like if I got angry I'd be painting his office with his own insides, "I've been off all day, I think I'm coming down with something."

"Your eyes are bloodshot." Mr. Morris suddenly announced, which surprised me. I didn't think he was actually that perceptive. "But being sick is no excuse. I told you about your attitude."

"Yes but-" I was falling for his tricks but I couldn't stop myself. The scent of blood was intoxicating, I could almost taste it on my tongue.

"And not to mention I walk over to your section and find you chatting with your little green friend, behind the counter no less! I'm going to have to add this to your monthly performance record." And then he smirked. "Three write ups? That calls for a formal review, who knows Dib, you may get a months suspension for that."

A months suspension? For snapping at an old lady and trying to get Zim out of my hair? "That's bullshit!"

"Excuse me?"

I had stepped over the line. I was already standing, when had I stood up? Oh god I was _starving_. "You can't do that! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"I decide what's right or wrong here!" Mr. Morris stood up quickly, probably trying to seem intimidating but failing horribly. "And you can't talk to me that way!"

"SHUT UP!" Before I even knew what was happening I had grabbed the man by his shirt and dragged him across his desk. I did this with one hand and I did it with _ease_. I slammed the man against the closest wall and pushed him up against it.

I could hear it in my head, the beast, screaming at me. Tear out his throat. Drink his blood. Sate your hunger. You are the dominant predator here, you deserve the kill. My fingers gripped his shirt tighter and the man before me whimpered. What a weak human, _pathetic_ , no wonder they were the sheep to the fanged wolves stalked amongst them. It would be so _easy_ to kill him. My free hand rose up slowly and I could feel the monster within me grinning. I was grinning too.

My tongue ran over my fangs and I could almost taste his blood.

"Please!" He begged me, grabbing at my hand, trying desperately but fruitlessly to fight back. "Please, Dib, don't hurt me! I'm sorry!"

Something inside me snapped back on, like a light switch in my brain illuminating the darkness which had almost completely overshadowed it. Almost. But that last light shone and shone brightly and the beast crawling under my skin recoiled. I dropped the man and stumbled back, looking at his crumpled, sobbing form and then to my own hands. I had been so close to killing him, so close to indulging in this horrific thirst.

The beast had almost claimed me.

"I-I-I..." I was shaking. I was terrified of myself. I could have killed him. I almost killed him. Oh God what the hell was happening to me? My instincts took over and I said the first thing that came to mind. "No more bad write ups! And don't mention this to anyone or... or else!"

He was sobbing. I took that for a yes.

I had to stop myself from sprinting out of there in a panic. Instead I gathered whatever I had of myself left and casually walked out. I forced myself to walk casually across the store to my section where, casually, I got my trench coat and sunscreen. Then I turned around and continued to walk, in a casual manner, out the store. Casually I got in my car and casually I turned on the engine. Casually I drove out of the car park.

And then when I got on the road, I very un-casually broke down.

"WHAT THE- AGH! AAAAGH!" I practically swerved but managed to keep in my lane. "I ALMOST KILLED MY BOSS! I mean sure that's the American dream but what the _hell_?" I ran a hand through my hair. I was sweating and I could feel my clothes sticking to me. I had to go home and sort this out. It was too early to set off to the park just yet and I didn't want to expose myself to any more people. I needed to shut myself away and stay very, very still until later tonight.

I had to do something. I had to find a cure before I hurt someone else.

Dammit Dib, why the hell did you get yourself into this mess?

* * *

 _YEEEAH, so there ya'll has it! Poor Dib is being consumed by the monster within, so what does that entail for the next chapter? Here's a hint._

 _Dib vs Gaz: The Ultimate Showdown: Vampire Edition._

 _Now you might see why this chapter might feel a bit odd because yeah, I had to split it into two for the Dib vs Mr. Morris and then Dib vs Gaz fights. Though Dib vs Mr. Morris wasn't really a fight as much as it was making a grown man cry. Because who doesn't enjoy doing that?_

 _Anyways, I'm gonna keep this short and sweet cos I'm working on some other things and I wanna get back to them (hint, next chapter plus maybe a Gravity Falls fic in the future maybe)._

 _Hope you all enjoyed it and please tell me what you think in the form of lovely reviewer feedback! Till next time guys!_


	6. The Leash Snaps

_ALRIGHT SO LATE UPDATE YAY! Everyone likes late updates, right? Right. Sure you do. Ahem. I had a busy weekend okay, don't give me those judging eyes!_

 _Anyway so this chapter went through some major edits, especially since I made a big decision to make a major detour from the original at this point. Basically everything from this chapter onwards is original stuff! No more following the original story because IT NEVER GOT THIS FAR I DON'T THINK._

 _So yes. Anyway read on dear readers and enjoy the EPIC SHOWDOWN!_

* * *

When I was a child I used to look at the night with a sense of wonder. I remember thinking how everything changed when the sun went down. Things became, in a sense, more primal, more like the days when our ancestors huddled in dimly lit caves around small fires, allowing their imaginations to run wild as they told one another stories of old, forgotten Gods and creatures who stalked the shadows of the moon light.

I used to imagine all the strange, unknown creatures that walked those shadows. All the werewolves, goblins, ghouls and, yes, vampires who watched humanity from the nights dark cloak. I used to think how cool it would be to run in there and drag them out into the light of day, to expose them all to the world at large and stand there, triumphant. Dib the paranormal investigator, Dib the great discoverer, Dib the absolutely not crazy.

And now as I drove home I had an all new view of the darkness. I no longer wished to drag anything out into the light, I wanted to join those damned creatures in their dark hiding places. I wanted to know, yes, I would always want to know... but now I wanted to be with them. Hidden, watching from afar. The world was bathed in the safety of the sunlight but my world had always been the world of the night.

But was it worth this? I had always wanted to open the door and finally have the ability to dedicate myself fully to the world of the supernatural... but had I thrown something of myself away to do it?

I couldn't help but think of Maria in the Quick Stop. Was this what she felt every day of her existence? If so it was a wrenched one. To look at every person like a possible meal, to be filled constantly with the growling urge to drown in human blood. How the hell did she managed to pull an all night shift in a convenience store time and time again without going completely insane? Perhaps it was because she was far more used to it than I was, after all, it made sense that as a new sensation I wasn't used to it yet.

Clearly I had to tame the monster who lived within me.

"No, no no, I need to get rid of it. Not tame it." I took a deep breath and let my hands tighten on the wheel. "You're Dib Membrane. You're a genius. You can do this. This is just another problem in a long line of problems that enjoy knocking at your door and breaking into your house to sleep in your bed and wear your clothes and use your shampoo so, you know... can't be worse than when you almost turned into bologna."

Now _that_ was a memory I didn't want to bring up ever again.

I pulled into my driveway and sighed in relief. Most of the drive home I had been terrified that Mr Morris had called the police on me and that at any moment I'd be pulled over and questioned. However it seemed that I'd scared him into silence, at least for now anyway. Maybe he thought it was all some kind of bad dream, or maybe I really had been as terrifying as I'd hoped. Either way I wasn't looking forward to the inevitable confrontation I'd have to have with him on Monday.

Was it so wrong of me now I'd have some time to consider it that despite all the horror I had at myself and the disgust I had for the creatures madness for blood... that I was actually a little proud of myself? I had finally stood up to a man who had made my work life a living hell for the last year. One sharp action and I had him crying on the floor like the coward he was.

There was a pride in that, a kind of ape-man pride yes, but a pride nonetheless. It was the same kind of pride I'd once taken in stopping Zim's stupid, evil plans for world domination before all that ground to a halt. It was the pride of winning, of being stronger than someone else, of standing over a defeated opponent and knowing you are simply _better_ than they are.

In a way I knew that it was just the monster whispering from the dark corners of my psyche. It was appealing to some base, primal instinct that every living thing possessed. The want and need to be the predator, not the pray. I knew I was smart enough to know this and I knew that the monster knew that I knew this... but a smile still tugged at my mouth as I stepped out of my car.

Before I walked into the house I quickly checked my phone for the time. It was just rounding onto eight o'clock, so all I needed to do was pass the time by sitting quietly in my room and ignoring my unholy thirst for blood until I could go out and find Maria and have this whole thing blow over.

I opened the door to the house slowly, noting that Gaz was not sitting in front of the TV, instead I could hear the wonderful sounds of Norwegian death metal coming from upstairs. No doubt she was probably studying or working on an essay, whatever it was that kept dad throwing money at her. At least she wasn't down here bitching and moaning at me. At this point I really didn't think I could handle her yelling at me again. My boss just yelled at me and I almost tore his throat out. Considering how mad Gaz made me even just this morning... I didn't want to think about it.

The beast was still prowling around inside me and despite its silence I could feel its presence now more than ever. I was starving and yet I didn't feel faint or weak in the slightest. Instead I felt... sharp, strong even. I felt like I could track a deer through a forest with nothing but my wit and instincts. I felt like I could outrun the nine fifteen to Gravity Falls. I felt like I could bench press a truck and throw it over my shoulder.

But it was all fed by the one need, the one constantly looping record in my head.

Find. Blood.

My hands kept curling into fists as I climbed the staircase and entered my room. The moment I'd thrown off my work clothes and changed into something better I sat onto my bed and put my head into my hands, trying to put some thoughts into my head that didn't involve finding someone to feed on.  
I wasn't sure how much longer I could survive this. I had to face cold, hard facts. I needed to drink blood, as horrid an admission as that was it was true. The longer I put it off the more demanding the beast within was becoming. And worse was that I knew it would end up being someone innocent, someone I randomly picked off the street in a fit of starving blood lust and drained until they were empty.

Oh God the very thought of it sent a shiver down my spine. Worse was that I couldn't tell if it was from fear or excitement.

"Okay, Dib, okay, calm down. Breathe." I put my hands out and took a deep breath. In, out. In, out. "Okay, think logically. How can you get blood without murdering people? And wow I'm glad I decided _not_ to google that."

I put a hand to my chin in serious thought. Maybe I could find a butchers and drink the animal blood there? No, something told me that it wouldn't work. Call it instinct or perhaps it was just the monster in my head issuing demands but it had to be human blood, animal blood wouldn't cut it. Maybe I could target a blood bank or a hospital? I could sneak in and steal some donated blood, I mean stealing from charity and the sick wasn't as terrible as murder, right? It was still going to hell worthy but at this point I was pretty sure I'd already joined the ranks of the damned anyway.

In fact I was probably halfway there even before I'd been bitten.

I sighed and stood up. It wasn't a perfect solution but it was a temporary one and it would at least see me through the rest of the night until I got back to Maria and found a real solution to this problem.

Besides, I didn't trust myself in the house with Gaz. Eventually she would do something to piss me off and I would lose control around her. I would _not_ hurt my family, out of everything I was still her older brother and as such it was my job to protect her. It was my job to protect everyone on Earth, even if they really didn't deserve it.

Bitten by a vampire or not, I was still me, and I couldn't let go of that fact.

With this in mind I got up and brushed my clothes down then snatched up my backpack, which of course was an absolute necessity considering where I was going... which was to steal blood from dying people. I bet all the other vampires didn't have to deal with this. They probably had a whole system set up to get their blood. Probably controlled the government or something.

"Mental note, investigate vampires controlling the government."

Wow and I wonder why people call me crazy.

As I walked out of my room I was already thinking how I could sneak into a hospital and get passed the vast number of security systems within. Maybe it would be easier to look up local blood banks and-

"DIB!"

I had been halfway down the stairs when she shouted my name. I had been so distracted by my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed Gaz coming out of her room... and apparently, neither had my inner wolf. Now however it woke with a vengeance. I could smell her perfume, but worse, I could hear the soft beating of her heart in her chest.

I recoiled in self-horror as I felt the almost literal pull of the monster. I turned my head when I didn't want to and for a moment I didn't see my sister. I simply saw food. Fresh blood, pumping through her veins, waiting to me to take out of her.

I forced myself to keep going down the stairs, calling out quickly, "I'm going out cyalaterbye."

"DIB, you're not going ANYWHERE!" Gaz was chasing after me and would have obviously followed me outside despite only being dressed in a green t-shirt and a pair of purple sweatpants. She had no idea how much danger she was in, God you stupid girl RUN, RUN NO-

She grabbed my arm and stopped me. The beast almost tore her head off right there and then. Instead I managed to summon the willpower to simply turn and look at her. "Where the hell are you going and-" Whatever she was about to say she stopped. Her eyes widened. "Why are your eyes so red?"

"So you noticed that, huh?" My mouth was moving before my brain could catch up. I was suddenly rather aware that I was turning to face her even though I wasn't sure I remembered thinking I should do so. The world around me was taking on a weird, almost underwater-like quality. "Notice anything else?" And I grinned.

Why was I grinning?

"... what's wrong with your teeth? Are you doing some stupid, lame cosplay thing?"

Ah, that was why I was grinning.

She was backing up now, her body tense and her heart beating faster in her chest. I could hear her breathing picking up in her lungs. She was scared. She was so used to having control of the situation and suddenly things weren't under her control any more. They were in mine.

"Not exactly." I stepped towards her, matching her slow pace. "Hey, did you know that the average human body holds ten pints of blood? Ten pints! That's seven percent of your body weight." My grin grew wider. "Can you imagine how much blood that is?"

"Dib, I don't know what you're smoking but you're seriously creeping me out. Back the hell off before-"

"Before what?"

She stopped backing up, just outside the entrance to the kitchen. Somehow she gathered enough courage together to make a stand, though suddenly it was very obvious that I was far taller than her. How had I ever been pushed around by this tiny woman? How had I ever taken so much crap from her all these years? She was pathetic. Nothing but skin and bone... and blood.

That was one thing she had in droves.

"Before I kick your Goddamn ass." She raised a fist up. "Don't tempt me Dib, I will do-"

She blinked. I was in front of her, one hand grabbing her fist tightly and the other wrapping suddenly around her throat, silencing her. I picked her up from the floor with the same ease I'd had with Mr. Morris, possibly even easier. Gaz let out a strangled wail as my hand began to crush her fist and I heard a popping noise come from her knuckles.

"Shut up. You little bitch. Shut your stupid mouth right _now_." The voice wasn't mine. It sounded like me and came from my lips but there was something else there. Something vicious dancing at the edges like the growl of a hungry wolf on the wind. "You're not doing anything to anyone, not _ever_ again."

With what felt like the flick of a wrist I threw her from me and she flew in the air before landing with a crash into the kitchen table, causing everything to go tumbling over.

I began striding forwards again as she moaned in pain from behind the now upturned table.

"It's not fun, is it? Being kicked around. Being down trodden." I chuckled. "Does your own medicine taste sour, Gaz? I want to know before I open your throat up."

I reached the table and looked over, just as Gaz suddenly leapt up at me... with a knife in her hand. I was so surprise that I barely dodged out the way, throwing my hand out as I did to block the blade. I yelped as the knife cut through my hand, immediately opening it up and I felt my own blood suddenly drip out of me.

And for that split second, in the sudden, sharp bite of pain, I found myself back in control of myself.

I staggered back, grabbing my wrist tightly as I did so and my eyes focusing on my wound. From the edge of my vision Gaz moved around the table, panting. She held the knife in one hand, the other held up to her chest. She was panting heavily and wincing in whatever pain she felt.

I stood up straight and looked in fascination at the dark crimson gash across my palm... which slowly began to close up.

I heard a soft gasp and I turned to see Gaz fully. Her amber eyes were locked on my palm, watching as it healed before her very eyes until it vanished completely. No scar, no mark, no blood. No evidence she'd even made contact with me.

For a moment we made eye contact and without any words spoken I knew that she could see it was me. Not whatever I had been a moment before but the real me, the one screaming from inside my own skull for her to get out, to run, to do something before-

"Nice try."

I cracked my neck as I flexed my fingers then curled them into a fist. "I wonder how many punches it would take to get you through the wall."

"What the hell..." Gaz held up the knife suddenly, steeling herself. "What the hell _happened_ to you?"

"Oh come on, Gaz. I know you're not that stupid, you get straight A's all the time!" I walked towards her, cocky and confident. I knew I couldn't be hurt, not by anything she had anyway. She was a mouse and I was a tiger. This would be no contest. "How about you take a guess?"

I swiped at her and she dodged but in all honestly I wasn't even trying. She went into a roll and climbed back to her feet, moving towards the only exit she could get to, the exit to my father's lab. I turned to face her and grinned again, running a thirsty tongue over my fangs... making sure she watched as I did so.

I raised a hand up slowly and noticed for the first time that the nails on my hands had become longer, sharper, more like the claws of beast. Caught up in the moment I raised my hand higher to the ceiling lamp and a light, maddening laugh escaped me. " _Incredible_..."

That was a mistake. She instantly took advantage of my distraction and dived into the lab and out of my sight, though it hardly mattered. I followed after her almost lazily and made sure to shut the door behind me. She had made a mistake in her panic. By running into the lab she had hidden herself, yes, but she was also now trapped in here with me.

There would be no escape.

She had chosen her graveyard well however. The smell of machinery, chemicals and who knew what else permeated the air, masking her blood. The sounds of electricity running through vast wires, tesla machines and the beeping of working computers masked the beating of her heart.

Not that I was about to let her know that of course. "Gaz, come on, don't play this silly game. Let's just get it over with, I promise I won't let too much of your blood get on the floor. I know how much dad hates a mess."

"You've done something to yourself." Her voice called out, echoing off the walls. She was hiding behind something, I just couldn't tell what. "What the hell happened last night? What happened to you?!"

"Oh you know how it goes. Boy has horrible life, boy gets offered immortality, boy takes offer." I mused as I stalked through the lab, looking to every tiny movement, every twitch that I could see from the corner of my eye. This was getting more and more frustrating with every moment. I wanted her blood, I could almost taste it on my lips. Why was she making this so hard? Why was she so intent on avoiding her inevitable death?

I passed by a large metal cylinder and suddenly paused, catching sight of myself in the cold metal.

I didn't recognize myself. I wasn't the pale, lanky, awkward twenty something I had been that morning. This thing looking back at me was almost demonic, beast-like, with glowing red eyes and a terrible, hungry snarl across it's lips. That wasn't me and for a sobering moment I put a hand forward towards the metal. My hand ended in long, sharp, claw-like nails. Another thought also crossed my mind, despite the almost overwhelming blood lust that was flowing freely through me.

Why could I see a reflection of myself?

Then something moved behind me.

There was barely a second between my head moving out the way and a large, iron wrench crashing down where it was before. Gaz however wasted no time, she followed it up swiftly with another swing but again I dodged out the way. She swung a third time, pressing her advantage but I reached out a hand and grabbed the wrench.

In one swift move I pulled it out of her hand and slammed a palm onto her chest, which shot her backwards across the lab and into a bunch of machinery with an ear shattering crash. I laughed and tossed the wrench away as I approached her again, she moaned but managed to pull herself to her feet.

But it wasn't fast enough.

I grabbed her by her hair and hauled her up, then tossed her aside again, throwing her into a shelving unit which had been filled with all sorts of unfinished gadgets and devices, all of which fell around and on top of her.

"Seriously, Gaz. I don't even know why you're trying." I walked slowly over to her as she rolled onto her stomach and slowly, painfully tried to pick herself up again. She was coughing and I could instantly smell the blood flowing from her lips. Her heart was hamming in her chest, driving the beast within me onward. I was almost shaking from a sick excitement as I stood over her, looking down on my sister like a wolf looks upon a hurt lamb. "You should thank karma for this, you have no one to blame but yourself."

I reached down towards her, claws out straight, aiming right for her throat.

Inside I recoiled in horror. Outside the beast's mouth opened wide, fangs eager and hungry.

I had forgotten one very important detail however. Gaz was a Membrane and Membranes are notoriously hard to kill.

Before I even knew what was happening Gaz had rolled onto her back and my eyes looked down to her stomach just long enough to notice she was holding some kind of gun. A stun gun to be precise.

And then pain roared across me like fire. I could feel every second of the three thousand volts of electricity that ran through me like a billion insects biting at every atom of my being. I couldn't think, I couldn't focus, the monster I had become had no response to something like this.

Suddenly it stopped and I stood there, limbs utterly disabled, my brain feeling like it was about to melt out between my ears.

I collapsed to the floor and as I drifted into an completely unexpected state of unconsciousness I heard Gaz clamber to her feet and her words echoed into the encroaching darkness that was my world.

"First you start a fire and now you get bitten by a vampire. Dib, you're the biggest _idiot_ I've ever met."

* * *

 _SO DID YA'LL THINK GAZ WOULD WIN? HUH? ARE YOU FEELING IT NOW, MR KRABS? Ahem but seriously this was a big decision to make. Essentially I decided to cut out a part of the story that was probably one of the big reasons I stopped writing it in the original. The chapter after this one was kind of utterly unnecessary and boring and didn't really accomplish much._

 _SO AWAY IT WENT. God I love editing._

 _Anyway yeah a small note here I'm going to move to an every 2 weeks updating scheduled because I've not had a lot of writing time recently plus I feel like I burned myself out a little going week to week to week. But anyway chapter 7 will arrive in TWO WEEKS, so until then we can all just imagine what new, fresh hell awaits our dear Dib-shaped protagonist._

 _Until then leave me some lovely feedback and tell me what you think and THANKS FOR READING AND REVIEWING AND ALL THAT GOOD STUFF PEEPS! LATER!_


	7. Like A Wolf In A Cage

_ALRIGHT SO TIME FOR AN UPDATE KIDS. I know it's been a while but this new schedule is gonna work out much better I'm sure of it, especially cos new things popped up lately in my life so yeah. But less about that._

 _Also I have to admit, reading everyone's reactions to the last chapter was fun as heck. It was a mixed bag of 'oh no Dib!' and 'damn you Gaz!' and whatnot. Very fun indeed._

 _ANYWAY it's time for the reading so ENJOY KIDS!_

* * *

The dark sleep was long and uneventful. The kind of sleep which could only be brought on by something completely shutting your brain down, like a heavy drug or a bad fall. However slowly, gradually, I could feel something under my back. Some fabric barely strung over a cold metal surface. Suddenly smells were flooding through my senses, familiar smells but ones I had somehow never truly noticed before. The smell of antiseptic, of cold machinery, of strange metals and even stranger chemicals.

Slowly I opened my eyes.

The first thing I saw was red plated metal above me. I didn't even need to turn my head, I already knew where I was because I'd been here countless times before.

"Zim's... house?" Or to be more accurate it was a cell in Zim's house. I allowed my head to fall to one side and far in front of me I could see a giant, oversized chair in front of a mass of monitors. Some were filled with scrawling irken text while others were simply video feeds.

Video feeds of me, actually.

As I slowly pulled myself up I saw the chair suddenly turn and I couldn't help a smile briefly cross my face. Every time I saw Zim do his 'Dr Evil' thing with his giant chair and his tiny self it made me laugh. It was so very Zim. Vastly overcompensating for whatever it was he felt the need to make up for. Or maybe he honestly thought it made him look cool.

"Ah, so you're awake. Have a nice nap?" He hopped off his chair and began walking towards me, his hands held behind his back. "It's been a long time since you were my captive. I'm getting a rush of, what's that human word..."

"Constipation!" Gir shouted from somewhere out of my vision.

"Yes! Thank you Gir! I'm getting a rush of constipation."

I groaned, not out of any ache or pain but simply out of Zim's stupidity. Amazingly I felt fine, though as I stood up I could feel the creeping hunger coming back to me. Perhaps it was because this place didn't have a single drop of blood, at least not one that I could smell but the vapid hunger I felt before wasn't as demanding. At least not for now.

I didn't bother approaching Zim. The reason was because in long, straight lines in front of me were very thick, very heavy, very un-breakable looking bars. He used to have a forcefield there but it turned out it was far too easy to hack it or break out an EMP blast to take it down. Giant metal bars were much, much harder to break through... not to mention he could poke me with sticks through them. Or at least he used to, before our weird truce set in.

"How did I get here?"

"The Gaz-Beast called me as soon as she could. Together we transported you here and under her insistence I put you in that cell."

"I take it Gaz told you what happened." I asked calmly. "How is she?"

"The Dib-sister is doing fine. You broke two of her ribs and crushed the bones in her hand." As he stopped just in front of the cell I could sense a strange, silent fury coming from him. "But I prescribed her some bacta juice and she's recovering."

There was a silence that seemed to stretch to agonizing degree before I finally broke it. "I'm sorry."

"SORRY?!" The alien snapped at me so suddenly that I almost jumped in shock. Thank God that force field was there. "SORRY? SORRY DOESN'T FLIRKING CUT IT, DIB!" Wow, he used just my name, he had to be really, really angry if he was just using my name. "What the QUIZNACK were you thinking?"

"I wasn't... me." I replied in a quiet tone. I wasn't going to get into a shouting match with Zim, it wasn't worth it. I felt low enough as it was, knowing what I'd done and what I'd almost done.

And I was still starving.

"OH? WAS IT SOMEONE ELSE?" The alien screamed at me, his hands clenched into tight fists. "BECAUSE GAZ CERTAINLY DIDN'T THINK SO."

I sat back down onto the small cot and put my head into my hands. "I'm just... so hungry Zim. You can't understand."

"Hungry? HUNGRY? You don't attack a member of your own clan because you're hungry, DIB." He practically spat my name out. "You could have eaten something!"

"You don't get it!" I shook my head, still refusing to look at him. "It's not like that, it's-"

"What? Do you want me to make you some waffles? Do you want a nice meaty burger?" He was pacing back and forth in front of the cell, his boots clicking off the metal floor. "Speak up, Dib-stink, because I'm sure whatever it is you got so angry about is _absolutely_ worth it."

"I don't want food!" Finally I looked up at him my teeth practically grinding together, "You complete idiot! What I need is-"

"Blood." The voice came from somewhere beside the two of us and I had to lean forward to see Gaz walking towards us from one of the many corridors that snaked through Zim's base. "He needs blood, Zim."

My heart flooded with relief as I saw that she looked fine, a little beat up perhaps but fine. Her hand was wrapped up in an odd silver looking bandage and she had several cuts across her arms. Cuts that were still healing. As soon as I stood up I was hit with what felt like a sudden wave of bloodlust. Literally my entire body seemed to become tense and alert and again I had that horrible thought that Gaz wasn't my sister.

She was a walking talking meal.

"Gaz- Gaz!" I rushed to the front of the cell suddenly, grabbing the bars with my hands, "You need to get me out of here, please just come open the cage and-"

"SHUT UP." Her voice thundered at me and the monster within my head seemed cowed for only a moment. Or perhaps it was just smart enough to know that pleading never would have worked anyway. I could feel it pacing through my veins, growling deeply just behind my own eyes. I could feel it's raw hunger and my fingers curled around the cold metal bars. My breath picked up in my lungs. I was so hungry. Oh God I was hungry. It was coming back full force now, the need, the _desire_ for blood. I felt so parched, like a man crawling through a desert.

Behind Zim some of the monitors suddenly started beeping, causing the alien to turn his head in surprise.

"I already told you, Zim. Dib isn't human any more."

"I am human." I spoke in a low tone, annoyed at her very assumption. "I'm just..."

"Just what? An idiot? Yeah I know that." Gaz didn't smirk at me, which was surprising. Instead she simply gave me a cold look, one which I knew she only ever broke out for when she was truly angry.

And yet there was something else there too. Something I'm not sure I had ever seen before. She seemed... anxious. Did Gaz even feel anxiety? Apparently she did. Why did I feel proud of that fact?

"He was bitten by a vampire." She said while turning to Zim, who had become preoccupied with her tablet once again. "He needs blood."

"We can hook him up with a blood pack." Zim announced without looking at her. "I have some-"

"No. Zim." I cut in suddenly. "I need to drink it."

Zim let out a quick and harsh laugh, but when neither my sister nor myself answered him he looked up, his eyes moving between the two of us. "... are you serious? Nothing on my monitors even says that you need-"

"Zim, shut up for a moment and listen to me." I sighed deeply and turned away from the two of them, walking back into the cell. On the surface perhaps it looked like I was gathering my thoughts but in actuality I was desperately trying to stop myself from leaping at the bars in an attempt to break through them and rip Gaz's heart out. "I need to drink blood. Desperately. You have no earthly clue how much I need it. So please. If you have some human blood, please give it to me because if you don't I seriously might try to break out of this cell and..." I paused, wondering for a moment if I should even finish the sentence or not. The wolf didn't want to, but I did. Thankfully I managed to win out. "And murder everyone in a fifteen mile radius and drain them of every drop of blood in their body. No I am not joking or exaggerating."

The room went very, very quiet for a moment.

"... okay dokey then." Zim nodded to himself. "Sounds reasonable. Completely insane, but reasonable. GIR!" A second later the robot jumped from... somewhere and collided with the cell bars causing a tremendous clanging noise that echoed around the lab as he bounced right back from them.

He landed at Gaz's feet and grinned up at her. "HI SCARY LADY!"

"GIR!" Zim clicked his fingers and pointed to the flood next to him. "Stop laying around and go get some of the human blood from our human blood container unit."

"You mean the coffee jar?"

"Wha- why did you put human blood in a coffee jar?"

"COFFEE!"

"Right, okay, whatever. Just go get it."

"Can doooooooooooooo-"

"GIR GO GET THE BLOOD!"

The robot quickly saluted and then ran off somewhere, vanishing from sight. Zim went back to looking at his tablet for a moment, frowning and mumbling to himself over the various details. My eyes moved to Gaz who simply stood there not looking at me with her arms crossed, though not too tightly, I guessed her ribs were still healing. The monster inside my brain seemed to be taking a back seat by now, possibly because of the promise of blood delivered right to my door... or cell, in this case.

I decided now would be a good time to apologize to Gaz.

I'm... not good at picking these kinds of moments.

"Gaz I-"

"Shut it. Shut it right now." Gaz turned on me and pointed a finger so sharp at me that I could almost swear she was a vampire too. "You don't get to talk to me. Not right now. Not until you stop looking at me like I'm a goddamn meal."

"I'm not!" I was. I really was. I could smell the blood pouring off her, hear her heart pumping in her chest, lingering on her healing wounds. Blood. The very thought of it was making me antsy and anxious. I was so hungry and it seemed so close that I could almost reach out and touch it... or more accurately, rip it out of her warm body and pour it down my throat. "I mean... I'm trying not to!"

"Right. Just like you tried not to burn that building down."

Without even thinking I growled deeply at Gaz and, to the delight of my sick pride, she flinched. However I bit my tongue and forced myself to turn away and walk back to my tiny metal cot. God what the hell was taking Gir so long? When I saw that robot again I would rip his stupid metal head off and kick it into a black hole. Suddenly however a smell reached my nose. A smell that literally sent every hair on the back of my neck standing up and sent electricity rushing through my limbs.

Blood.

I turned and again approached the cell bars as closely as I dared and began looking around desperately.

Zim and Gaz noticed and shared a look that I barely noticed. I didn't care about them, all I cared about was the blood. The fresh smell driving every sense in my body wild, so much so that I could almost taste it on my tongue. God I had never wanted anything so much in my whole life. I take back everything I'd ever said about Gir, he was a God-send, a wonderful angel from above to deliver me from this hell-thirst.

The little robot came bounding into view and above his head he was holding a coffee jar... filled with blood. The red liquid danced up from side to side as he walked, gleefully giggling about something but whatever it was it was utterly lost on me. All I cared about was the blood, the sight of it making me feel on fire. I wanted to reach through the bars and grab the jar out of Gir's hands, to just take the thing I craved so deeply.

The thing which my entire being, my very soul, whatever was left of it, was crying out for.

However before Gir could even pass the blood through the bars Gaz snatched the jar up and held it before her. My eyes were locked onto it, my entire body focused on that one jar. I could smell the blood congealing, becoming less potent with every passing second.

I wasn't sure who said it, me of the starving wolf inside me, but the words came tumbling out of my mouth. "Gaz. Give me the blood."

"Why should I?"

"Gaz please I just- GIVE IT TO ME!" Gaz jumped back as I reached for her, a clawed hand grabbing for it like a flash of lightning. I wasn't even close but even so the very force of my attempt was enough to terrify everyone in the room. Instantly Gaz and Zim shrunk back and I did too.

The horror that swelled within me threatened to tear my body apart and I fell back onto my behind, scrambling away from the front of the cage to the cot which I leaned on heavily, panting to myself and looking to my own sister with terrified eyes. In a second I had gone from me, the starving, trapped prisoner to a beast in a cage. It took me a second to realize my hands had turned to claws and my teeth felt too long in my mouth.

Once Gaz had regathered herself again she gripped the jar tighter and in a low tone she growled out. "I'm not going anywhere near you, not while you're like this."

I didn't disagree with her. Instead I simply buried my face into my hands with a mixture of shame and quiet self loathing.

"I'll do it." Zim announced suddenly, which surprised me to the point of making me look up from my despair.

"What?" I frowned at him in confusion. "Why would you-"

"You attacked at her. Not me." Zim replied as he took the jar from Gaz. "And yet I've been here far longer than she has. Not once did you even give me the same... weird look that you've been giving her. You also had the perfect chance to attack me at that disgusting Joja-Stink store, yet all you did was mildly threaten me in that... mild way of yours." He smirked to himself. "Plus you demanded _human_ blood. Not the far superior irken blood. So clearly I should be safe."

"That's... actually kind of true." Now that I thought about it, I hadn't once considered Zim as any kind of meal since I'd been here, or even before in the store. My vampiric senses were demanding human blood and human blood only, the inner monster wasn't interested in aliens or anything else for that matter. "Alright." I stood up, perhaps a little too eagerly, and approached the cage as Zim walked forward without fear, the jar held in his hands.

The smell of it was driving me almost completely over the edge, the very thought of blood between my teeth making me want to lick them hungrily. But my inner wolf was a careful creature and knew another outburst would not be tolerated. It was holding itself together for now for the promise of finally sating its thirst.

I had to give Zim some credit, his observational skills once again came in handy. As he got to the cage he thrust the jar out and I gasped as the blood wobbled within the jar, almost spilling over the side. I was there in a second, snatching it out of his hand. His gamble had proven right, I wasn't interested in his weird, green, alien blood. I was only interested in what I held before me.

Finally. Blood. Precious, life giving blood.

I no longer cared about anyone or anything else in the world. Everything seemed to fade away as I brought the jar to my lips and I didn't even give it a second thought as I finally tipped the contents of the jar back into my throat.

Have you ever had a moment of such exquisite ecstasy that the entire universe around you becomes just that moment? Just you, alone, with the utter complete joy of that single second? For that moment I was only consumed with blood. The feel of it flowing down my throat, coating my fangs, filled every atom of my being with new life, new energy. It was bliss, true bliss, like nothing I had ever experienced before in my life.

I finished the jar in almost no time, barely stopping at any moment for a breath and once the jar was empty I fell back onto the floor again, leaning against the cot, my eyes closed as I lost myself in the feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment that drinking the blood had brought me. I placed my hands under my glasses and over my eyes and taking them away only to run them through my hair as I laughed softly.

Nothing in my entire life had ever felt as good as that moment.

My good mood was cut short however by Gaz's snarky tone. "Do you want a little privacy? Maybe we can dim the lights and find you a box of tissues."

I looked back at Gaz, fixing her with a frown but I didn't dare reply. Besides, I had Zim to do that for me.

"I don't get it. Why would he need tissues?"

"Because... nevermind." Gaz rolled her eyes at the alien and then seemed to dare take a step closer to the cage. "So are you all done now? You're not going to try and rip my goddamn head off?"

"I feel... great. Better than great, actually. I feel amazing." And I did. I stood up and found myself licking my lips, the wonderful, coppery taste of the blood still lingering on my tongue. If this was what a vampire went through every time they fed... I could certainly see why they would keep doing it night after night.

"So you're not going to try and murder you brood-sibling or myself?" Zim asked cautiously, a hand raising to his chin.

I paused and looked to my own hands, which no longer were shaped like long claws. I could feel no presence of the beast within me, no stalking wolf, no growling monster. I felt... normal. Better than any normal I'd felt before but still, normal.

"I'm fine, guys. I swear. But..." I still couldn't forgive myself for what I had almost done to Gaz. "But even so. I think you should arm yourselves. Just in case."

"Sure." Gaz shrugged and then reached into one of her pockets, drawing out the stun gun she'd hit me with before. "You didn't think I'd just leave this hanging around, did you?"

"And I have my PAK." Zim chuckled. "It doesn't matter what you've done to yourself, you will never be as mighty as ZIM!" And he cackled maniacally. Gaz and I, despite everything that had happened, shared the all too familiar look of 'this guy'. However Zim soon stopped cackling and waved a hand in the air. "Computer, disengage the cage lock."

With a loud beep the bars suddenly rose up and I went to walk out of the cage, however before I did so I leaned over and picked up the coffee jar which had once contained the precious blood. However I as held it in my hand I couldn't help but notice... there was no reflection. I frowned but soon turned away, perhaps in my vampiric state I could only be reflected in some surfaces and not others?

Either way it was nothing but a minor symptom of the bigger problem.

As I walked out of the cell I couldn't help but notice how Gaz hadn't put away the stun gun she held so tightly in her hand and again, in some ape-man part of my brain I felt proud. Sure I had almost killed her and I'd never forgive myself for that... but making her have a little more respect for me? Now _that_ I could take a little pride in.

"So what now?" Gaz asked sternly.

"It's obvious, isnt it?" I raised an eyebrow and looked between the two of them. "We find a way to turn me back."

* * *

 _YEAH THE TEAM IS BACK TOGETHER ON AN ADVENTURE YEEEEAAAAH. Or at least they're going to join forces to try and get Dib into a human person form again. Not that he isn't but... yeah._

 _So yeah I did want to point out some references in this chapter._

 _First was bacta-tape. Bacta is of course from Star Wars and is basically a heal-all that everyone uses to heal themselves._

 _Second is FLIRKING which is something HeCallsMeHisChild invented (or I'm pretty sure she did anyway) and I had to throw it in here because SHOUTOUTS._

 _Third is Quiznack which is from the awesomeness that is Voltron: Legendary Defender which EVERYONE needs to go see cos it's fantastic._

 _Anyways I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Sorry if it seemed off but this week has been insane and I've not had a lot of drive to do much editing, but hopefully the next chapter or so will be fun and give a breather from all the action we've had lately._

 _As always, tell me what you think in the form of lovely comments or reviews or smoke signals or whatever and I'll see ya'll next time! PEACE!_


	8. Overdue Confessions

_SO A SATURDAY UPDATE. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I was playing Dark Souls like, all day yesterday. NOPE. NOTHING._

 _HOW DARE YOU THROW SUCH ACCUSATIONS AROUND._

 _Anyway here is the update so let's all enjoy some ANGST YAY!_

* * *

The silence was awkward. I hate awkward silences. I've never been the most social of people and growing up a tall, spotty teenager dressed always in black and having no friends practically guaranteed I'd never be the life of the party.

I looked between Zim and Gaz, both of them almost hilariously the same height with Gaz having only a few inches on Zim and in a desperate attempt to dispel the silence asked, "What?"

"Just like that." Gaz raised an eyebrow at me. "You think you can reverse this whole thing just like that?"

"Well, obviously not," I ran a quick hand through my hair. "I mean we need to plan this out. We need to study the enemy and get inside their head and-"

"I don't even know what's happened to you." Zim interrupted suddenly. "Zim assumes it is something supernatural?" He scowled at me. "You always did use it as a crutch when you couldn't better yourself with good, honest science."

I scowled back, though in a way I knew it was true. Zim's science had always been almost unbeatable and as such in my youth I had turned increasingly towards magic and sorcery to defeat it. He could counter an attack coming at him from some kind of laser weapon or bizarre mechanical pair of pants but attack him with demonic imps summoned from fire or stinking nurglings from the realm of chaos? Yeah it had taken him some time to come up with a reasonable counter to that.

By the time we had quit trying to kill one another it had become a showdown of science verses magic, though the truce had been most fortunate since it had become increasingly difficult to use it. As a kid I could raise the dead, as a teenager it took effort to even summon a single ghost to my side. As an adult I had spent a month preparing a summoning circle to bring forth a greater demon of Tzeentch. A month painstakingly drawing the right sigils and gathering the proper ingredients to place around the vast circle.

And all that happened was that I'd fried every electric device I'd owned. Nothing more. Though I had found a single blue feather afterward... to think I'd actually considered that a success.

"Yes, Zim, this is a supernatural thing. Deal with it. Besides it doesn't matter what the nature of this is what matters is-"

"Actually, it does." Gaz cut in and her eyes narrowed suddenly. "The very nature of what happened to you is the key to reversing it. Speaking of which," Her tone became both curious and accusatory in one breath, "How _exactly_ did this happen?"

"I was bitten, Gaz, obviously." And I rolled my eyes at her, though inside I already knew where this was going and I could feel the nervousness rise in my stomach.

"Back at home, back when we were fighting. You said you were made an offer." Gaz's tone was as sharp as a knife. It was obvious she was still furious at me and now she was getting her chance to finally exact some measure of revenge by exposing my foolish mistakes, my weak hearted moment where I allow myself to fall into darkness. She would love this no doubt, rubbing salt into the bite wounds on my neck. I moved a hand up to rub along where I had been bitten and, to some surprise, I found the marks had gone.

I supposed they would have healed eventually, just like every other wound, bruise and scratch I had taken that night.

"Don't tell me you willingly let yourself get bitten."

She had caught me and we both knew it. Still however my pride wouldn't allow her to just unravel my mistakes in front of me. "Look I don't want to talk about it, and besides, that wasn't me saying all that. I mean it was but... I wasn't myself, you saw that."

"That's beside the point." She wasn't letting up and I didn't blame her. Damn me and my stupid big mouth, I can't believe I had bragged about being bitten. Wait, no, I had been right the first time. It wasn't me. It was the other, dangerous, blood-drinking me. It was starting to get a little difficult tracking all the new personalities I seem to be adopting. "You said you accepted an offer. Dib, tell us the truth. Now."

"Or what?" I sudden snapped at my sister, my newly blood-red eyes glaring at her. "Are you going to make me? It doesn't matter what happened all that matters is-"

"NO!" Gaz's shout was so sudden and loud that for a moment I forgot I was being defensive and wilted at her anger. Even Zim seemed to shrink back. "You're not pulling this stupid _pride_ crap again!"

The words hit me in like a sledgehammer to the chest. Instantly I went on the defensive. "What pride crap?"

" _That_ pride crap!" And she pointed an accusing finger at me. "Why do you _always_ do this? Why do you _always_ shut everyone else out? What the _hell_ is wrong with you? We're trying to help you, you stupid id-"

"THAT!" I roared suddenly, the wolf within me waking up at my anger and stalking silently through my limbs. The hunger was sated, yes, but the predator was still there and it seemed it was eager to protect its host. "THAT is why I don't ask for anyone's help! Because all I ever get are insults! I'm just a giant _joke_ to you people, so why the hell would I ever turn to you for help? I get it, alright? I get it!"

"Get what?" Zim asked in a surprisingly calm tone though his PAK legs slowly emerged and clicked as they hit the floor, his crimson eyes dark and cautious.

"I'm the loser, I'm the idiot, I'm the one who threw his whole goddamn life away so whatever. Let's all just have a nice long laugh at Dib's expense because he screwed himself over!"

" _That's_ what this is about?" Gaz's eyes narrowed. "You let yourself get bit by a vampire because you think we all _laugh_ at you?"

"Oh come off it, Gaz. You've no idea what I got through every freakin' day of my stupid life." I had never really shouted at Gaz like this before, and to be honest I wasn't sure why I was doing it now. I could have walked away or continued to deny everything and eventually they'd have been forced to push on without knowing the details of how I was turned. And yet here I was, suddenly the bottles I had long stored, filled with all the hate and anger and frustration I had endured, were cracking and breaking within me.  
And all that bottled rage was spilling out of my mouth.

"I'm the family pariah and you're the golden child who gets whatever she wants!" My teeth were showing, I knew it, I didn't need a mirror to tell. Inwardly, somewhere it dawned on me that this could well be the wolf within talking but at the same time it was something I had wanted to say for so long.

Perhaps it was repaying me for the blood by giving me the strength to finally tell my sister off.

"A new car, new games, new phone, all of university paid for and more! What do I get? NOTHING!" I threw my hand out as I shouted, my eyes blazing with fury. "NOTHING AND IT'LL ALWAYS BE NOTHING!" I was screaming now and yet oddly Gaz just stood there. Her eyes narrow and her body stiff but without a hint of expression on her stony face.

"AND YOU!" I turned suddenly on Zim who jumped with surprise, raising right up onto his PAK legs. It was all pouring out of me now, nothing could stop it, like the first strike of lightning in a thunderstorm heralding an immediate downpour. "You're _just_ as bad!"

Unlike Gaz however Zim was all too eager to reply back to me. He moved forward on his PAK legs until he was eye level with me and pointed a sharp finger into my chest. "How dare you accuse Zim of such things! Zim does not care about your stupid li-"

"All you ever do is brag about how great your life is going and how much money you're making selling tech to mercenaries and how much destruction you're causing across the galaxy! Well guess what, I'm _sick_ of hearing about it! I'm _sick_ of you rubbing your success in my face every day!" I was practically in Zim's face at this point. Hell I could have punched him through the wall and into the next room. Part of me thought about doing it, _seriously_ thought about it, but the other half held back simply because Zim was one of two allies I had at this moment.

Punching one into paste wouldn't improve my situation any more than it was now.

Instead however I managed to tear myself away from him for a second and look back to Gaz, my teeth practically grinding in my mouth. "So yeah! I went out and while I was out I got into a fight with a vampire and _amazingly_ despite everything else in my life being complete shit I actually managed to _win_ for once!" I ran a quick hand through my hair as I desperately tried to gather my thoughts before they spilled right out of my mouth. I failed. "And when I won she turned to me and told me a couple of truths, like how I deserved way better than what I was getting and how she could offer me a way out. All I needed was to let her bite me and you know what, I did something for _me_ for once! I said yes because I thought maybe that was my ticket to something better than living in the constant shadow of _everybody_ _else_ around me!"

Finally I caught my own breath and stopped. Finally it felt like every bottle I had stored inside me and piled up and up until there was no longer any room within my soul for the hate and anger I was desperately keeping under control was empty. Finally I felt as though the weight on my heart, unbeating as it was, had been lifted.

There was a long silence where I looked to neither Zim nor Gaz. Instead I looked away to the side, back to the cell I was in one a moment ago, wanting them to take each and every agonizing second to realize what complete assholes they'd been for the last couple of years.

Then suddenly, Zim broke the silence with something I hadn't been expecting.

"You thought I was bragging?" I back to him in surprise. The venom in his tone was incredible and yet I knew it wasn't all aimed at me. Part of it was aimed at himself. "You think I _enjoy_ selling out my people's tech like a worthless mercenary?"

Suddenly he shoved me and, amazingly, I staggered back. I could have easily resisted it and yet I was so shocked by his outburst that I had absolutely no defense. All walls had been dropped and I could only stare open mouthed at the shorter alien as he screamed at me.

"I _hate_ this planet, Dib-Stink! And I _hate_ that I have to spend the rest of my flirking existence here! I hate that I'm not a solider, that I have to survive acting like a leach handing over weapons to races that should be licking my irken boot!" He loomed over me, his PAK legs stabbing swiftly onto the floor around me so he could lean in so close to my face that I could smell his weirdly sterile breath. "I would do anything, _anything_ , to be able to chose my own destiny! At least you always had _that_! Why do you think I always told you to leave that stupid drone-store with that worthless worm of a human as your work-lord? YOU HAVE _ALWAYS_ BEEN SMARTER THAN THAT PLACE BUT YOU _REFUSED_ TO IMPROVE YOUR OWN SITUATION!"

As he spoke he jammed a finger into my chest and I let him. I had never thought... never realized that Zim was, essentially, trapped here on Earth. He couldn't go out into the chaos that was the galaxy, he was an irken and most irkens were kill on sight to the aliens they had once ruled over so cruelly. Even worse was that, inside, I knew he was right and I had known he was right even before I'd been bitten.

"You know what? When you want the assistance of the mighty Zim you can come find me, until then how about you try and get it into that giant, thick ape-stink skull of yours what a gigantic, self centered _moron_ you actually are!" And with that the alien turned suddenly and skittered away, vanishing down one of the long, maze-like corridors his base was made from.

I stood there simply amazed at his explosion of anger. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen Zim so mad, so _upset_. Had I really always been so blind? How could I have not noticed how much he hated what he was doing? Maybe he had always found a way to hide his anger, just like I had always tried to do.

Or maybe he was right. Maybe I was just so selfish that I hadn't even thought to wonder if Zim enjoyed handing over his precious weapons for gold plated latinum.

"I'm not the golden child, you know."

I had been so lost in my thoughts that I had forgotten Gaz was even there. Her voice caused me to jump up suddenly and I turned to her, expecting that she would be surrounded by the flames of hell and ready to rip me apart in righteous fury.

However instead she was doing something even more terrifying.

She was standing there. Her hands gripped tightly at her sides, her eyes on me, completely and utterly calm.

Or at least she appeared that way on the outside. Gaz was my sister and I knew her well enough to know that under that stoic appearance hid a rage that a thousand demons couldn't stop.

Her amber gaze fixed onto mine and held me in place against my will. No matter how vampiric I was I would never be able to escape from one of her death-glares.

"Do you really think dad just gives me all those things because I get good grades?" Her voice was so ice cold that I could have frozen to death in it. "I get those things because I work my ass off and the only reason I do so is because ever since you stupidly set that building on fire dad piled all his hopes and dreams on me."

I opened my mouth to say something but no words came out. Instead I sat there, gawking at her like a fish before closing it again and looking away in shame.

"You do realize the only time I ever get to game is when I come home on the weekends? I spent every other goddamn second studying so that he doesn't completely lose faith in both of us. I don't have any boyfriends, I don't go on any night outs, I don't get to do anything fun because if I mess up even _once_ I know he'll come down on me a _thousand_ times harder than he ever did on you. Oh, all he ever talks about is you."

I looked back to her at this and immediately, almost instinctively replied. "No way."

"He does. Any time he calls all he talks about is how _hard_ you work, how you're earning your own way, how you're pulling yourself up by your boot straps and how I have it _easy_ because all I have to do is study. All the crap that makes me feel goddamn worthless while you get to dance around working a piss-easy job and doing whatever you want in the meantime."

Her fingers were digging into her palms so hard I thought they would draw blood and even known with the beast sated the thought of it sent goosebumps along my arms. Her voice was quickly becoming harder for her control, I could tell. It was shaking with fury, her whole body was giving off an almost electric anger and I could feel myself tensing for an inevitable attack.

"And you... you thought I was the lucky one..." Her hands moved from the table slowly, raising upward. "You ungrateful... ASSHOLE!"

I saw it coming from a mile away, perhaps because of my newly heightened vampiric senses or maybe because I had been at the receiving end of Gaz's rage so many times I knew all her attacks. Either way as her fist came sailing through the air at me I dodged it with ease, then she threw another one, which again I easily avoided.

She was panting, her amber eyes practically flashing with an inner thunder and her fists still raised, though she made no further moves to assault me. Instead she did all of that with her voice. "Dad gave you his damn _car_ for crying out loud! Do you know how much he _loved_ that stupid car?" Her voice rose even more, screaming every word into my heart and mind. "DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH HE STILL THINKS THE GODDAMN _WORLD_ OF YOU DESPITE ALL THE SCREW UPS? AND YOU DARE ACCUSE _ME_ OF BEING THE GODDAMN GOLDEN CHILD!"

For a moment she simply gave me a look that could have set me on fire but then she turned and stormed towards the tunnel Zim had vanished down. She paused however at the entrance and turned to look at me. When she spoke again her voice was back to being that stone cold tone which was louder than any shouting could ever be. "Everyone has problems Dib. _Everyone_. The difference is we didn't choose to run and hide in the dark like you did."

And with that she was gone, vanishing into the neon-red and purple corridor. I stood alone for a moment, then, quietly, I made my way over to Zim's giant chair and slumped onto it. I leaned forward and put my head into my hands.

"Dib, you are a complete idiot."

I had been so blind. No, blind wasn't the right word for it. I had filled my vision only with my own inadequacies, with the tiny but numerous things which had all been stabbing me in the side for years. The failures I had refused to move on from, the evils I had decided to let exist in my own life. Zim was right. I could have walked away at any time. Yes it would have been into uncertainty but it would have better than working at JojaMart.

Or perhaps at least the chance to do something, _anything_ better would have been worth it.

And as for Gaz... How I had never noticed how hard she worked to remain in university? Straight A's didn't come without hard work no matter how smart you were and I hadn't even bothered to ask what she was studying and why. Dad had rewarded her for doing as he had always wanted her to do and in his own, baffling way I suppose he had done the same for me. I had been earning my own way, clinging to the things I had gathered for myself.

A working class pride had been instilled into me.

But it was a pride which had backfired. I had pushed everyone aside to do things on my own, to work purely for myself without allowing any other to give me a hand or even a kind word. I had developed a self-hating tunnel vision, blocking out the efforts of everyone else around me. Zim had been miserable for years, working simply to exist. Gaz had taken up the weight which I had carried for the Membrane name.

"Dib, you need to make this right." I whispered into my palms. "Somehow... you need to make this right."

* * *

 _So it ends with Dib quoting the Protomen. BECAUSE PROTOMEN. Also there are some Warhammer 40k references in there, mostly about the mighty Tzeentch, LORD OF CHANGE. See why I went with him? Lord of Change? Theme of the fic? Yep yep, deep reference thought there._

 _Anyway yes so that's the update, hope everyone enjoyed it and leave me some lovely feedback and whatnot telling me all what you think or thought or considered or just want to tell me. I'm here for you people._

 _TILL NEXT TIME DEAR READERS!_


	9. Removing Milestones

_ANNND WE'RE BACK. And wow did that last chapter get a reaction out of you guys! I mean seriously, WOW. That's the kind of thing a writer loves to see, people really jumping up in either joy or anger and telling me what they think._

 _Please, do more of it, cos it's great to really see why some people disliked it and why some did. It helps me understand and learn and grow as a writer._

 _Anyway, enough of that, time for more of the FIIIIIC._

* * *

I had never truly gotten used to the feeling of Zim's base. I had been here a thousand times, ten thousand times, and never once ever felt truly comfortable. There was a reason that we refer to strange or unusual things as alien. The very word conjures up a feeling of unique otherness which cannot truly be imagined or described.

That was what Zim's base felt like to me. The colors, the shapes, the wires, the technology were all things I recognized sure but even so there was something in the way the red and purple neon lights echoed down long, dark corridors, the way that the air had a strange, implacable taste to it, the way that sound seemed to die so quickly and even the off-pitch hum of distant electricity that gave Zim's base a haunting, sometimes dreamlike sometimes nightmarish feel.

Even the material I sat on now felt like some strange quasi-imitation of leather.

Did I now belong to such a world? A world trapped between the fake and the real, some odd twilight zone where things that should belong only in fantasy could freely cross into existence. Did I belong to the strange places in the world where reality wore thin and things that were impossible could happen?

I wasn't sure how long I sat there in the pale light but it was long enough that my inner monster began to prowl through the shadows of my mind once more. I was not hungry but rather I could simply feel its watchful presence upon me. Strange how I did not feel threatened or in danger, but rather, that I was being guarded.

I had realized before that my inner bloodsucker did not want me to die. It was in the best interest of the two of us that I remained alive, or rather, moving at least. It needed blood, just as I needed blood. It provided the drive, I provided the means.

I looked up slowly and for a moment tried to look at myself in a computer screen but found that, as before, there was no reflection. Instead I watched as walls of irken text scrolled past me and every now and then I picked out a word such a 'human' and 'blood' and 'changes'. Without thinking I moved my tongue slowly over my fangs and allowed a dumb smirk to fall over my lips.

"Pride is a hell of a thing." I mumbled to myself as shook my head.

"Thatsa _baaad_ woooord."

I jumped so much I almost fell out of the chair. Scrambling to pull myself together I turned only to collide heads with Gir, who had somehow managed to crawl up onto the arm of the chair without me even noticing. And I thought vampiric senses were supposed to make me more aware of things around me? What a scam.

"Gir! What the-"

"Watcha dooooin?" The robot cocked his head and stuck out his tongue. Why a robot needed a tongue was beyond me but whatever.

I frowned at the tiny thing but then climbed back into the seat with a huff. "I was thinking."

"You got a big heads for thinking."

I gave Gir another frown but his outright obliviousness at my irritation disarmed me and it fell away quickly. "Leave me alone, Gir. I don't want to talk to anyone right now."

"Want some candy?" The tiny robot reached into his head and suddenly brought out a bunch of sweets that seemed either half-eaten or melted together. I cringed and shook my head. "No thanks." Even if I wasn't a blood drinker I wouldn't have eaten them.

The little robot frowned. "But candy is goooood! Eats it!" And he thrust it back in my face again.

"I said no, Gir! Go bother your master."

I was about to turn away again and go back to my brooding like a good vampire but the robot suddenly said something that broke all concentration on my self pity.

"You don't smile enough."

I turned swiftly back to him and watched as he stuffed the candy into his mouth and chewed on it loudly, smacking his metal lips over and over and making 'om nom' noises. "What do you mean I don't smile enough?"

"Dib-Dop never smiles! Always frowny frown." He kicked his little legs out. "Candy is nice."

"I do smile. Sometimes." I commented stiffly and felt oddly hurt by the comment. Was I really _that_ miserable?

"Nope! You gotta be happy! Happy Dibby!" Gir stood up on the arm of the chair and lifted his arms up. "PRAISE THE SUN!"

"I am not praising the sun." I shook my head and then mumbled. "That'll end up getting me killed."

"Smile more!" Gir giggled and grabbed me in a sudden hug. "Things ain't so bad!"

I didn't push him off, I had learn a long time ago that the robot had a literal iron grip and it was pointless to resist when he grabbed you. Instead I just pouted and looked away. "I don't know about that."

"Smile or I won't let go!"

Okay now that did actually worry me because I knew that wasn't just an idle threat. Against all my better judgment and against the sarcastic look I could feel my inner monster giving me, I forced a smile on my face. "Alright, see, I'm smiling."

"YAAAAY!" Gir let go and leapt over me. "I'mma go FISHING!" And with that he vanished somewhere, though I could hear him crashing and smashing into things on his way.

And yet even after he left my smile did not fade. Maybe it was because I was finally sick of being sad, maybe it was because I was genuinely amused by the tiny robot, or maybe because the entire situation had finally driven me completely mad but the smile remained.

Perhaps after everything that happened it was Gir who had the right idea. Being sad was like having a milestone anchored around your neck which only grew heavier as more things attached themselves to it. And yet with a smile I could feel the weight becoming lighter.

I had forgotten to keep hope about all of this. Hope that I could come back from my mistakes, hope that this wasn't my fate and that things could get better. And why couldn't they? Had I not been working hard to do just that before? Had I not defeated evil the first time I faced it, even if I had fallen to temptation?

I was a fighter. I could fight. Until I was utterly exhausted, I could fight.

But first, I needed to apologize.

I rose to my feet and began walking down the corridor where I had watched Gaz and Zim vanish. I could feel my stomach turn to a knot, even though I knew what I was doing was the right thing. That ape-man pride was making noises in my head, telling me that a real man didn't grovel for forgiveness, a real man stood alone and fought alone and solved his own problems no matter the odds.

But a new voice was speaking. A voice that said that pride was a sin for a reason. Pride was what caused great men to fall, for empires to collapse, hell I'd heard in some rumors it was what had driven Red and Purple apart... among _other_ rumors about the two of them.

Humility on the other hand solved problems. Humility joined people together and ended fights. Humility could start to heal wounds and move things forwards.

Maybe it was about time I had a little actual humility in my life.

I found the two of them sitting around a rounded table in what seemed to be a weird, irken version of an office break room. Zim was drinking some hot but weird purple looking water that smelled remarkably like grass and Gaz was sitting on her phone, no doubt enjoying the 'quantum-speed' internet that Zim always boasted about.

They both looked up as I entered the room and again I felt as though a spotlight had landed right on me. It was odd how even though I had been essentially handed immortality, inhuman speed, strength and powers beyond what I even knew I still found myself feeling like that awkward sixteen year old, covered in zits, uncomfortable in his own skin and with zero charisma.

Goddamnit Dib, you're a twenty something year old man! Act like it!

"I... have something I want to say."

"Say it." Gaz immediately spat out. "Get it over with."

She never was one for standing on ceremony. I linked my fingers together before me, looked down, then looked back to the two of them and simply said it. "I'm sorry. To the both of you. For everything I said did and what an ass I've been and... I'm sorry."

"HA!" Zim immediately growled and pounded his fists down onto the table. "And why should Zim accept your pathetic human apology?"

"Because I'm going to work for you." The words fell out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying. Both of us looked at each other in shock, then I continued on in the calmest tone I could. "You were right. I was rotting away in JojaMart and, well, considering what I almost did to Mr Morris I'm pretty sure I can't work there any more so... I'll work for you. Maybe we can find something we can sell to aliens together, something that's not a weapon." I smiled and shrugged. "Plus you know, I need to put my brain to some use, right?"

Zim's red eyes narrowed and he leaned forward. "If I accept this offer than I demand an eighty-twenty split of the profits."

"Sixty-forty."

"It's my business and my base."

"And my brainpower and the fact that I need to earn at least better than I doing before because unlike you I pay taxes so sixty-forty."

Zim seemed to consider this for a moment, I could practically see the cogs working in his head. Finally however he smirked and stood up, holding out his hand. "Alright, it's a deal."

"So you accept my apology?"

"Sure, whatever. And I guess that Zim... perhaps apologizes for... screaming at you. Though only a little, you deserved most of it."

I smirked and nodded, "Good enough for me." I reached forward and grabbed his hand, shaking it tightly, though I was also keenly aware of my own new-found strength and held back from crushing his irken fingers into dust.

Now came the _really_ hard part.

I turned to Gaz who had practically put up a wall of ice so tall that even the White Walkers couldn't get over it. Her arms were crossed tightly across her chest and her gaze so terrible I almost forgot who was the human and who was the vampire.

"Gaz... I... I know I can never apologize enough but I swear once I'm human again I'll make everything up to you. If you want me to grovel or beg I will do. If you want me to do all your homework or clean your room or the house or... just anything."

She remained quiet, her amber eyes practically glowing behind her purple bangs.

"Come on Gaz, seriously, tell me what you want me to do!" The desperation was seeping in my voice and I knew it. Usually I would have rather died than do this in front of Zim but at this point all pretense had been pulled down. I had reached the bottom, now there was no where else to go, except back up.

And up started with Gaz saying _something_ at least.

"Gaz _please_ you can't-"

"Be quiet." She stood up suddenly and walked over to me. She was an inch in front of me with an aura so fierce that I was terrified she was going to rip me apart, vampire powers or not. Instead she did something I don't think she'd ever done before.

She hugged me.

It was so sudden and strange that my brain hardly registered it. She was, in an instant, so tiny and frail that I was afraid to put my arms around her. Yet somewhere in my ape-brain my brotherly instincts kicked in and my arms wrapped around her.

The words were barely a whisper. "I'm sorry."

"Me too."

A second later she let go. More than let go really, she almost shoved me back and turned away. It was obvious that she wasn't used to saying sorry or doing anything that actually required much emotion, but even so, the very fact she put that effort in showed me that she cared. Why it was so hard for her to do it on a day-to-day basis I didn't know and would probably never know but somewhere in there she cared, and that was enough for me.

"Alright, well, now that's out the way." I smacked my hands together and grinned, forgetting for a moment that I was showing off my fangs on full display. "Let's actually do what we came here to do."

"What we dragged you unconscious here to do." Zim cut in with his own zipper-toothed smirk.

"Yes. That." I sat down with the two of them and leaned onto the table. "Gaz already knows this but for Zim's sake I'll explain. Really there is only one way to turn a person back into a human once they've been bitten by a vampire."

"And what human superstitious mumbo-jumbo is that?" Zim replied in a deadpan tone and took a sip of his weird blue drink.

"We need to kill the vampire that turned me." Oddly I couldn't help stop a sad tone entering my voice as I spoke. Something Gaz immediately noticed.

"What's the matter? You were all too willing to rip me apart a few hours ago."

I gave her a quick glare but decided against lecturing her once more on how that was the inner beast, not me. Instead I simply sighed and looked to one side. "The thing is... it's not like she's _evil_ , you know?" This was only met with silence so I continued, "Look the only reason I even found out she was a vampire was because some asshole was trying to rob the store while I was there and she had to punch him across the store."

"But she bit you, obviously." Gaz quickly cut in. "After you fought her."

"Well, yeah, I guess I mean..." Something about it just didn't feel right with me. I wasn't sure why but the idea of actually having to kill a supernatural being wasn't something I was sitting nicely on. "She told me she was only doing it to defend herself."

"Well let me tell you something." My sister's voice took on a decisively dark tone. "When we fought I was terrified. I had no doubt that if you had the chance you'd kill me and if you say that it wasn't you, it was some kind of beast inside you that was making you do it, than the same thing exists in her too. Which means it doesn't matter if you say _she_ is a decent person, the thing _inside_ her is nothing more than a predator who will do whatever it takes to get its fill of blood."

She had a point and I made no attempt to say otherwise. I remember the look in the woman's eyes when I fought her. The look that was so utterly inhuman, something fueled by the smell of blood and the thrill of the hunt. A beast that had almost ended my life if I hadn't had dumb luck and a backpack full of paranoid preparation on my side.

I nodded slowly and looked to the table. "Her name is Maria, I didn't get a second name. She works at the Quick-Stop across from the Gabriel Reyes Memorial Park."

"I've been to that place a hundred times and I've never seen any weird, fanged creature there." Zim announced in a cool voice. This drew confused looks from both myself and Gaz and he shrugged. "What? Gir likes the churros they sell."

"Zim, remember that she'd look like a human. She's kinda medium height, dark red hair, tanned skin?" I raised an eyebrow. "She has red eyes too but I don't think you'd notice that."

The irken paused for moment, thinking this over before he slowly nodded. "Oh wait, yes, I remember her." I had to admit this surprised me, usually Zim didn't notice anyone except his own reflection. "The wage-slave who called Gir cute. I did think it was odd her body temperature was so low but I didn't care enough to ask about it."

I wondered for a brief moment if Maria remembered Zim, the weird green guy who showed up with a bipedal, talking dog who would eat churros, or if she had seen so many strange supernatural creatures in her time that she just chalked Zim up as another weird mystery of the night.

If I ever got the chance, I'd have to ask her. That is before I stabbed her in the heart of course. The thought still fill me with a strange kind of reluctance but I knew I had to push past it. It was either stab Maria or remain a vampire forever and honestly I wasn't sure which was worse. Sure as a kid I talked a big game about killing Zim and throwing him on an autopsy table but if it came down to it I was never quite sure if I really would.

My nature was to explore, learn, to defend the defenseless and fight the strange, bizarre things of the night. Not to actually murder or kill anything. Though with the monster now within me, carefully watching and waiting for its chance to emerge, I suppose I was now more capable of cold blooded murder than ever before.

"If we're going to do this we should prepare and we need to make it fast because we've already wasted enough time standing around this stupid place." Gaz stood up, breaking the silence that had crept into the room. "As much as I hate to say it, Dib, you're the expert. What do we need?"

Gaz was actually saying I was good at something? Wow, things really had shifted between us. I wasn't going to dwell on it too long however because she was right. The clock was ticking and I didn't even know how long Maria's shift was or if she was even working tonight. The poor girl, she had no idea what was coming at her... and worse was that I knew her death, or rather true death, would only be because of a stupid decision I made about myself.

My bad choices would literally have a body count.

I shook the thought of my head. Now was not the time to be focusing on the poor vampire, now was the time to be thinking about myself, as selfish as that sounded. I was going to take my humanity back and if I had to do it by force I would. This was the path I had chosen and I had to walk it all the way.

This time however I wouldn't have to walk it alone.

* * *

 _SO THERE YOU HAVE IT GUYS. I honestly wonder if this chapter will draw the same kind of fire that the last one did. This was a reconciliation chapter, really, a chance for all the tension brought out in the last chapter to be leveled and the crew to really come together as a proper team. No one anger, no more jealousy. Just the classic team working together again._

 _And besides, I felt as though Dib really did have to reach complete rock bottom for him to begin a rebuild as someone who was a real adult, making adult decisions and living with them. That's what a major theme of this fic is, people. It's all about facing fears, taking on responsibility and living with the choices you make, no matter the price._

 _So anyway, next chapter will hopefully get back to some action again and all this talking, emotional stuff will be done with._

 _Also PRAISE THE SUN. Dark Souls reference for ya'll. Go play Dark Souls if you haven't._

 _Also making this a bi-weekly thing has let me work on some other stuff, mostly a Gravity Falls fan fiction. If peeps are excited about that please tell me cos it's most likely shaping up to be the next thing I publish after this fic is done._

 _ANYWAY. Tell me what you think with lovely reviews and feedback and I look forward to seeing what you guys think! TILL NEXT TIME PEEPS!_


	10. Setting The Trap

_Okay so first let me quickly apologize. Shortly after the last update to this fic... well I won't go into it but 'worst 13 months of my life' come rather close._

 _Only now has my muse for this fic even begun returning._

 _So if there are parts of this chapter that seem just not up to my usual scratch please forgive me._ _Usually I don't ask such things but this time I will. It was just that bad of a year._

 _Anyway, hopefully I will continue writing and get this story DUNZO. Enjoy everyone!_

* * *

It felt like we were about to launch ourselves over the trenches. The silence was like smoke within our lungs and yet no one would make a sound. Even me, with all my newly heightened senses and powers, felt that ancient, deep-seated piece of humanity called fear turning my limbs to stone. The only light was that of the Quick Stop, once again casting its ethereal, striking light into the blanketing darkness of the night.

A liminal place. A place where reality bent and curved, where the world suddenly made much less sense. A place where you could get two churros for five bucks.

I looked to the side for only a moment to check on my sister for what had to have been the hundredth time that night. There was her stun-gun sitting on her hip and where one might have strapped a knife to their leg, she instead had a cold metal stake. She had also grabbed a thick leather jacket and put on her steel toe capped boots.

I knew she could defend herself, but even so, I felt crushingly responsible for my little sister as she prepared for the fight of her, and my, life. In a way, it showed how much she actually cared for me. She was willing to walk out there and fight a bloodthirsty creature of the night to save me from my own curse. On the other hand, however, I was her big brother and no big brother ever willingly let their little sister go into a fight.

It would just add to the long list of regrets I would have if she was ever seriously hurt.

Zim on the other hand... _eh_. I could give or take. Not that I wanted him to die but he had proved himself more than capable on many occasions to the point where I knew I could focus my caution on Gaz. He had dressed himself in a red hoody with an irken logo on the front and a pair of black pants and boots. It was odd how Zim had slowly, and perhaps with some major reluctance, adopted human fashions. I suspected it was mostly because his old clothes didn't fit, though it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that he simply wished to wear something that didn't remind him of his old station.

He had taken no weapons with him, again insisting that he was fine so long as he had his PAK with him. I didn't argue. I had seen the legs of his PAK stab through solid steel and blast holes in the sides of buildings. What I was truly concerned about was that he wasn't taking this seriously enough. His irken arrogance had never left him and back in the day it was often the only reason I had succeed against him. Though I had to admit he had listened intently when I had run through exactly what a vampire was.

I wasn't sure if it was out of his own sense of scientific interest or if he was simply figuring how he could use the knowledge for his own, weapon-making ends.

We had taken my car of course. Gaz would never allow us to take her car, being that should we get a scratch on it we'd all end up staked from her fury and that Zim's voot cruiser, which he had put up quite the fight for, wouldn't fit all three of us. Hell, it barely fit Zim these days and I always got a good laugh out of seeing the alien stuff himself and the ever obnoxious Gir into the front seat.

"I wonder why she works there." Gaz's voice was small, so small it almost didn't break the surface of the hush that drowned us.

" _Pfft_ , isn't it obvious stink-beast? It's a well-chosen hunting ground." Zim spoke in a voice louder than hers, so much so that I almost shushed him though I knew it would be stupid to do so. Even with ears that could hear the rats run through the sewer under us I doubted she could hear us out in a car parked on the far end of the lot. Not with the humming of the Quick Stop's fluorescent lights and the ever-grinding slushy machine to mask us.

"She feeds on blood, correct? Well," And he leaned forward from the back-middle seat as he explained, pointing to the shop with a sharp claw finger. "Working nights in an open shop in a crime-ridden area. Plenty of filthy humans walk in an out of that place until her shift ends. Plenty of opportunity to slip out and feed. She can choose her food in plain sight of the pray. It's almost genius." He nodded to himself and leaned back. "I appreciate the _subtly_."

"You couldn't appreciate _subtly_ if it hit you around your dumb antennae." I grumbled at him, more irritated at this begrudgingly correct observation than anything else. What he had missed however was that she would also know the area like the back of her hand and probably had done so for years. If our first plan failed, she would have the upper hand in seconds and we would be royally screwed.

Before the silence could settle again I took a deep breath and simply asked, "Are we ready, then?"

To my surprise, there was no bravado from Zim, nor any cocksure, half-hearted shrug of acceptance from Gaz. The gravity of the situation was almost palpable.

"An irken warrior is always prepared for battle." Zim finally announced, thumping a curled fist onto his chest in what I suspected was more of a self-reassurance than any actual show of loyalty to his old empire.

"Let's kill this bitch." Gaz spoke up with a voice like wrought iron. She did not look to me but I could see in her eyes the memory of what I had almost done to her. The monster of blood frenzy and primeval horror that had attacked her. The thing that had worn the skin of her brother as it attempted to murder her in joyous predatory glee.

She knew with full clarity, perhaps more than myself, _exactly_ what kind of creature waited for us.

And yet it wasn't until I finally opened the car door that any of us actually began moving.

As before I could feel everything around me to an almost unreal degree. The wind blowing through grass, the night birds flitting between branches. It felt as though I had been a caged animal and now finally I was emerging back into my natural habitat. It was shameful to admit, and I did not do it out loud, that I knew I would miss this level of sensation. It would be as if showing a blind man, a fantastic piece of art only to once again gash his eyes to darkness.

"Alright guys, get to your positions, I'm going in." My voice was as steady as I could make it. If I had a heartbeat I was sure it'd be picking up right now and yet as I faced death my heart stayed dead and unmoving. In a strange way it almost boosted my confidence. To not feel the anxiety of battle hammering in your chest took away from the terror of the moment and gave me some kind of warrior confidence.

Like a ghost, however, I could feel the wolf within me stir. It knew this was where it was birthed, it knew the hunting ground of its sire. I could almost feel its hesitation pulling at my limbs.

Gaz and Zim moved to either side of the store's entrance as silently and as quickly as they could without exposing themselves to the lights of the Quick Stop as if they were avoiding the half-lidded eyes of some great stone guardian. The Quick Stop almost seemed alive in its own strange, unearthly manner, like a servant carefully hiding its deadly mistress behind a façade of unhealthy convince store food.

The plan was a simple one. I would go in and lure her outside where Gaz would stun her, as we knew that for sure seemed to work on the walking undead, and Zim would pin her to the floor using his PAK. Then I would stake her and we'd all be in the Winchester toasting our victory by midnight.

Easy. Simple.

I had calculated there was a sixty percent chance we were all going to die.

With one last momentary check of my belongings I finally moved forward, hands gripped tight on my backpack's straps and my coat swishing out behind me. While in Zim's labs I had taken the time to have the sleeves repaired. If I was going into battle I was taking my trusty trench coat with me.

I wasn't sure if I needed to breathe anymore but one big gulp certainly helped as I stepped to the Quick Stop doors. They opened as they would for anyone, and yet as I crossed the threshold I felt as though I had just stepped into a bear trap with steel jaws quickly closing in around me.

There was no one there. Nothing seemed out of place. The blood I expected to see stained to the floor was gone, as was the flour I had thrown the other night. And yet somewhere, buried under the scent of industrial strength bleaching agents and cleaning products was the faintest scent of iron and copper. A smell that set my teeth on edge and my fingers curling. It was almost remarkable that there had ever been a fight in here at all and coldly I wondered just how many people had been murdered within these walls.

She wasn't at the counter. That didn't concern me, she hadn't been the first time either. And yet I was sure she was here. Whether it was some new, inner vampiric sixth sense or simple intuition I knew she was here, somewhere, probably in the back, sorting stock. I had worked enough retail to know that was the go-to time waster when trying to work through a long and boring shift.

By the time I approached the counter, however, I could hear something I knew no human would notice. Footsteps in the back, almost impossible to pick up on above the irritating hum of burning mercury dust within the lights above me and the grinding of old metal on metal as the slushy machine churned its half-frozen contents.

I knocked on the countertop and waited for fate to unfold.

She appeared only a second later and looked just as I remembered her. Curved hips, tanned Latino skin, onyx black hair pulled back to a ponytail and eyes like stained blood. I was almost a little surprised at how beautiful she remained, as I had, for some reason, half expected the allure to wear off now that I had become something like her. It seemed Maria was not pretty just because she was a vampire casting some spell of glamour over men. But it was more than just her looks, I knew it, though I couldn't quite place it.

Then she smiled at me and it clicked.

She was the bitch wolf stalking through snow, she was the silken movements of a shark through darkest ocean, she was the coiling snake at the cot of a sleeping child.

She was beautiful because she was an apex predator. _God_ , I have weird taste in women.

"Dib Membrane. I thought you'd show up sooner or later." She chuckled a little and leaned forward on the countertop and act that would have accentuated her cleavage if her entire torso wasn't devoured by the terrible green and brown striped work shirt she wore. Her scent washed over my heightened senses and she smelled of chill winds swaying flowers on Colombian mountains.

I shrugged, trying to keep my cool. Before I felt confident facing battle and yet now my inner demon was on edge. Somehow, I knew it was because it faced its sire, its natural superior. It knew it faced a creature older and far more dangerous than itself. The creeping knowledge of such a thing didn't exactly fill me with confidence.

"Yeah, well, you know you kind of dropped me into this and didn't even leave your number. I mean, how else was I supposed to contact you?"

"That was kind of the _point_ ," Maria explained, that sly smile still on her lips where, in blink and you'll miss it moments, I caught sight of her fangs. "Consider it a test. You passed by the way. _Congratulations_ , you survived your first day of immortality."

She straightened up slowly and looked me straight in the eyes. Once again, I felt as though I was naked before her, like she was clawing through my very soul. However, this time something different happened. This time she didn't manage to reach so deeply. The beast that stalked my veins growled somewhere within my mind, raising its fur and standing its ground.

Her smile widened. "You've adapted quickly. Good. Sometimes the change can be too much for some. I've turned others before and lost them to the blood thirst." She cocked her head just slightly as she added, "They had to be put down."

Her words stunned me. _Put down_. Like some kind of rabid dog. Like their lives had no value to her, despite them being the very people she had turned. Had she been prepared to do the same to me? It was a bucket of cold water to the face as I remembered sharply that she was not human and probably hadn't been for a long time. She was a killer, a drinker of blood, a shadow in the night and teeth at the unwitting throats of the innocent.

And yet she was here. Standing before me. A woman in an ill-fitting shirt and a smile that would make any man daydream. The contrast was striking and maddening and refused to reconcile within my own mind.

I remembered Gaz and Zim were still waiting outside. I remembered my mission.

"We should take a walk." I announced, turning my eyes from her and looking around, acting as though I was still unsure of what had happened to me. Hopefully she bought it.

I considered myself a good actor. I didn't use to be but years of deceiving, lying and tricking Zim into various attempts to trap him, or at least talk my way out of trouble, had drilled into me all the ways to successfully get a lie across. Layering it with a degree of truth was usually the first step.

"I mean, I have a lot of _questions_ , you know?" I offered her a slight shrug and a small smile which I swept away quickly as I looked aside again. "Not a whole lot of this is adding up, and I thought I was an _expert_ on this kind of thing." I looked back to her suddenly and leaned forward placing my hands flat on the counter, "I mean I haven't had any urge to count anything obsessively, do you have to do that? And I was in my bed when I woke up so I think I don't have to sleep in a coffin and what about going into houses without an invite though I think I can do that because I walked in this shop but this shop is a shop so-"

"Está bien, está bien, para!" She held up her hands suddenly then placed them onto her hips. "You really do talk a _lot_ , hombre."

"Yeah, I've been told." I replied with a sheepish smile and raised a hand to the back of my head. I could feel the hair raise on the back of neck as I desperately fought to keep my composure. The more time I spent with her the more I could almost smell the danger radiating off her. I wondered if she could feel it too, the strange sense of tension between two beings molded as perfect hunters. Certainly, I caught a moment of hesitation from her, as if she was considering whether it was safe to leave her post and walk with a fellow vampire into the night's shadow.

However, she nodded, and I breathed out a sigh of relief, quickly masking it with, "Sorry, I promise not to try and ask too much. This is all just a little new to me."

"It's not that, hombre." Maria announced as she began walking around the countertop. "I have to write this off as a break, which means locking the shop. I'm still on the clock you know."

"Oh. Right." So she clearly wasn't intimidated by this fledgling vampire before her who knew next to nothing of what he had become, what his new body could really do. Part of me wanted to keep her here for just a moment longer, ask her about her experiences. I could only imagine what I could learn from her, what she had seen and done through her life.

Again, I broke myself out of such thoughts. The sooner I got this over with the better, the sooner I could be myself again. Plain old human Dib. God why was I feeling so torn up over this? I knew she was a monster, I had seen it with my own eyes, and yet as I followed at her side towards the Quick Stop exit I couldn't help but think of her as at least partly human. She clearly had things that annoyed her, things she must enjoy, things that she dreamt of and wished for.

Was I even right to kill her? Would it be saving the world from a monster or taking the life of a creature just as part of nature as any human on earth?

I forced myself to remember what I had done to Gaz. How it had been as if something as possessed me, thrown out my very soul and had turned me into something out of a nightmare. A creature bent on tearing my sister limb from literal limb and drinking her blood. My own little sister… and all without a shred of remorse. I couldn't live with any chance of that ever happening again.

I had to break the curse.

"Are you _alright_ , chico?" Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I didn't realize we had reached the doors. Just outside were Gaz and Zim, waiting in the dark for the second she stepped out into the night.

"What? Oh, yeah, just… thinking." I looked to my hands for a moment and in a second of pure introspection I asked. "How do you _do_ it?"

"Do what?"

"Live knowing you have to _murder_ others to survive?"

The question had been there the whole time, since the very moment I had woken up that morning. The question that had strangled my throat every minute of this insane twenty-four hours in which I had died and continued to walk and think and feel.

To her credit, Maria seemed to consider the question as she held the store key in her hand, waiting just outside the range of the automatic door. Then, quite unexpectedly, she laughed. "I suppose I don't."

"You don't murder?"

"I don't _live_ , Dib. We died, _remember_? I think we both died long ago, before we were even embraced." Her eyes flashed and like a shadow cast from candlelight I saw it. Her own inner monster. "Los muertos no tienen piedad por los vivos."

 _The dead have no mercy for the living._

I stepped outside first, allowing her to follow me and lock up. At this point, however, my mind was made up. Maria was not human. She was not someone I needed to protect, she wasn't an innocent soul that needed saving. She was a killer. A _murderer_. No, more than that, she had gone beyond those terms. This whole time I had been struggling against the beast I had allowed into my soul, a great blood hungry wolf whom I internally wrestled against.

Maria did not feel that struggle. She had already conquered her wolf and now it was _she_ who wore _its_ skin.

I was already off the pavement and into the parking lot before I realized she wasn't at my side. Stopping suddenly, I turned, forcing my eyes to her and not to give even a glance to Gaz and Zim who had hidden in the deep shadows each side of the shop. Maria was still inside. She was standing just in the doorway, just out of the reach of any attack.

I frowned at her and rather stupidly asked, "What?"

She didn't answer me. The look on her face was one of stone and yet somehow, I could see, framed in the unreal, almost fake light of the Quick Stop, that there was shock there. Perhaps even a sadness, if such a pitiless creature could feel such a thing.

"I don't think I should walk with you."

My stomach almost dropped out of me. "Why not?"

I knew the answer before she said it, Goddamnit I had been so stupid I-

"Did you really think you could _jump_ me?" Her voice swam with the fury of a blade in mid-swing. "I could smell the woman the moment the door opened."

* * *

 _HUZZAR IT GOT FINISHED YAY. I was stuck for a while on this chapter because the original draft had them getting ready and armed and stuff and explaining to Zim what vampires were but then I remembered the wise words of Neil Gaiman. 'When you're stuck, kill your main character'. Then I remembered the slightly less wise but still good words of John Harper 'Don't fret, jump to the action, explain later'._

 _So I jumped. Dib is already technically dead after all._

 _Anyway there's a few references in here, one to Parks and Rec, another to Shawn of the Dead but it's a surprisingly sparse chapter for references. Probably a good thing if I'm getting back into the swing of things._

 _Also I'm very proud of my WHAM line with Maria there with it hopefully decent Spanish. Anyway, LATERS PEEPS! HOPEFULLY IN 2 WEEKS TIME YAY._


	11. The Battle of the Quick Stop

_HA-HAAAA! I said two weeks but that was all a DECEPTIVE RUSE. A RUUUUSE. Here is the new chapter but I've been not just re-bitten by the writing bug but practically devoured by it._

 _SO ENJOY EARLY CHAPTER GOODNESS._

* * *

The night was much the same as the one before it. A slight wind toyed with the ends of my coat, giving a slight cool to the otherwise humid night air. The moon hung above me, dull and lackluster yet bright enough to cast shadows on the world. There were few stars in the sky, a product of light pollution, making the night itself seem lighter than it truly was.

And yet I don't think I have ever had a chill go down my spine quite like the one I had in that moment.

Maria didn't move, which surprised me. I thought she would stride out and begin eviscerating my sister and friend, and yet instead she remained. The Quick Stop was her fortress and she knew it, and now she knew _I_ knew it too.

Zim moved first. Quicker than a frightened rabbit his PAK legs sprang outward, propelling him away from the wall and throwing him into a well-practiced combat roll which ended a few feet to my left. Maria's hands flew up in a second, her fingers already now ending in long, sharp claws, her eyes, however, reading a flash of shock.

Something I had not expected to see.

Gaz immediately took advantage of the sudden distracted and darted from her spot just as quickly, clearly realizing that fate had thrown her a bone and unless she wanted her insides on her outsides she needed to take it. She ran until she was within arm's reach of me before stopping and turning. She was smarter than I was, I probably would have walked over like an idiot.

Maria's eyes passed over the three of us with a hunter's patience. Her body was coiled like a spring and despite her petite form I could see the wolf within her, the beast that had killed and would easily kill again. Goosebumps crawled along my arm and I wondered if vampires were supposed to feel this afraid or if it was just me.

I inwardly cursed myself. I wasn't a vampire, not a full one, not yet. I had one chance to get out of this and she was glaring blood and death right at me.

Maria slowly started forwards until she was standing just outside the store itself, her whole body cast in a strange illumination from the fluorescent lights that surrounded. I thought suddenly how she seemed like something holy that had been corrupted. Not a fallen angel, nothing so dramatic, but something that had once been so full of light that had allowed the darkness to crawl and settle deep inside.

Something pure that had been long since tainted by rot.

"That wasn't _nice_ , Dib." Maria announced calmly. "If you wanted me to turn your…" She trailed off as he eyes moved to Gaz and I saw her raise her nose for just a moment before grinning slowly, "Sister, you could have simply _asked_. I would have refused, but the gesture would have been polite."

I didn't need to see Gaz to know a shiver ran down her spine. I could almost smell the fear on her and I wasn't sure if it was due to my newly heightened sense of smell or simple brotherly instincts.

"As for that one." Her eyes now turned to Zim and from the corner of my vision I saw him tense suddenly. "… Do I _know_ you?"

He shrugged, "I have the dog that eats churros." Zim's voice was cocksure and almost casual. Oddly I found myself drawing strength from it. Someone had to act like we had a chance after all, and the tiny green alien had always thrown aside his doubts in the face of certain death. For once I was glad for it.

Her eyes widened at him in a gesture that I found irritatingly, maddeningly human. "Yes! You have the sangre enfermiza."

Bizarrely Zim took serious offense to this and suddenly shouted back, "MY BLOOD IS PERFECT, TOOTH-MONSTER!" He quickly shook a fist as his PAK legs once again distended outwards, raising him up and giving him a sinister edge that was all too familiar and yet still caused a small jolt of fear in the pit of my stomach. Even after all these long years the sight of the alien raised like a spider borne of steel and green flesh still got to me, even when he was on my side for once. "But tonight we will see how dirty _your_ blood is when it spills out of you!"

Maria simply laughed. It was high pitched and long and biting. "You think you can kill me?" Her eyes flicked to me and again I felt as though her hands were already clawing through my skin, opening me up before her. To her credit she didn't need me to spell out why we were there, I supposed she had guessed it the moment she had smelled my sister waiting in ambush. "You're a fool, Dib Membrane. Don't you _get_ it? Once your fangs have tasted flesh, there is no turning back."

I felt the ground drop out from under me.

I felt my stomach turn to water and all strength leave my limbs.

I felt the world around me spin utterly out of control and even my inner wolf, for just a moment, seemed to abandon me to my terror.

I had lost before I even fought back. I was a vampire, a monster, a blood-drinking horror pulled from the blackest pits of the night. I was… I was not Dib anymore. For that moment, crystallized as it was in my mind, her words cut deeper than any knife, hurt more than any wound and ground themselves within me with such force that I could almost feel them splitting my body apart.

And then, like a gunshot going off right by my ear, I felt Gaz punch me on the arm and the world snapped back into place. I turned my head slowly and mutely, expecting her to be furious at my fate. Instead she was smiling, which was almost just as terrifying.

"You lucky _idiot_. You still have a chance."

I blinked, mouth agape like a dead fish and with a matching expression on my face.

"Didn't you listen?" She was almost grinning, and I wasn't sure if it was from happiness or just giddy nervousness, "She said once you've _bitten_ someone you don't go back, but you've not _bitten_ anyone."

A light from above. A rope in the darkness. A hand stretching to me by fate itself. "… holy shit you're _right_."

I turned back to Maria, my eyes wide and staring with utter, gob-smacked disbelief. "I've not bitten anyone! I can still go back!" My voice was now matching Gaz's, giddy and shaking with renewed nervous, tense energy.

Maria, however, did not share our joy. Her face was that of murderous thunder, though I could see something else buried there. An anxiety perhaps, irritation maybe that her assumption had been defied. "You lie, hombre. The bloodthirst would have consumed you by now if you had not drank."

This gave me pause once again. "Well I…" I shrugged and rolled my hand, "I drank blood out of a jar. Does that count?"

The bizarre question seemed to settle on everyone's mind and even Maria for a moment frowned in thought before slowly her hands opened wider and her stance lowered. "Honestly I don't know." Her smile returned slowly and she stretched her arms out, "Well, everyone, why don't we find out _together_?"

And then she was upon us.

It was Zim she struck first, a shot to his stomach that I barely saw happen before she smashed him across his jaw. Then she turned her eyes to me. The air grew solid in my lungs and suddenly my wolf was there, growling within my chest, the scent of battle rushing through its snout. I could feel it too. The battle hunger flooding my chest like magma, burning me from the inside. Fear and rage and giddy murderous glee.

I couldn't remember, in that moment, if I had always felt like this before a fight or if this was new. I don't think I cared.

She was on me in a second, a bloody fury screaming from her as claws like switchblades swung at me. I countered quickly, which was amazing in of itself as she moved like a fleeting thought.

Thankfully I was now just as fast. The blow missed me and I swung up at her. She batted the hand away and landed a kick to my side that sent me sprawling. Pain leapt up to bite me but it was gone just as fast. I had never recovered so quickly and I knew it was the wolf doing so. It was driving me forward, healing me, keeping me on pace with the monster we fought.

I sprang up to see Maria swing at Gaz with a thunderclap of force. Gaz didn't dodge, she dropped entirely to the floor and fired her stun gun.

At such close range it should have hit Maria full-on, bringing her to her knees in seconds. But Maria was not like myself. She was not newly bitten and scared, she was old and powerful and knew every inch of herself. The shot missed, impossibly it missed, and Gaz had a foot connect to her ribcage for her trouble.

The audible crack of bone sent a bolt of fury through me. I was a creature teetering on the edge of the demonic, but I was also Gaz's big brother. No one hurt my sister.

I was on my feet. I was moving. I was leaping and then my claws raked Maria's back and _when did I summon my claws_?

She screamed and turned on me, landing a punch to my nose that would have snapped my neck if I had been mortal. I weathered it however and swung back but I was slower, she dodged and I almost heard a laugh escape her throat.

Then steel flashed and I heard the alien scream something in irken that I recognized vaguely as a battle cry. The PAK leg tore across Maria's shoulder and was suddenly followed up by a shot of light that not just hit her left side but _disintegrated_ it.

She fell back in pure shock and I could see, for the first time, true pain register in her face. The shot had only been glancing but it was enough to strike something akin to fear into her, hell it struck fear into me just to see it.

Maria back peddled before skidding to a stop, but rather than advance again she suddenly froze. I took the opportunity to help Gaz up. Her weapon was still in her hand but her arm was wrapped around her chest. I could hear her heart beating like a war drum and to my shame it set a shiver of hunger through me. It didn't take much to put my attention back on the vampire though, she was my true prey after all.

Maria's eyes were almost comically wide, staring at Zim and quite suddenly she asked, "¿Que eres?"

Zim went to answer but then paused as a breeze whispered over us. His hand shot up only to land on his antennae and I suddenly realized his wig was gone, no doubt thrown from him when she had hurled him several feet. With a groan he quickly reached up to his eyes and removed his contacts. "No point wearing a disguise for a dead human I suppose."

"She's… not human." I heard Gaz breathe out beside me.

"You're _all_ human to me." Zim replied with a snarl as he kept his eyes on Maria, who somehow seemed less threatening when looking like someone just slapped her with a wet fish.

Her eyes switched suddenly to me and again I saw something within them, past the burning rage and battle hunger. There was a fear there, deep-seated and old. "¡¿Has convocado a un demonio para pelear conmigo ?!"

I blinked at this before leaning my head towards Gaz. "Translation?"

She had always had more skill with our Grandmother's tongue, something I had always felt a bit of shame over.

Gaz was breathing hard but steady at least, one amber eye shining from under her sweat-coated bangs. "She thinks Zim is a demon you summoned."

"DEMON? I AM AN IRKEN ELITE!" Zim screamed at her, one again pointing a long, sharp finger at her. "And you are nothing but supernatural human _scum_!"

"I am _not_ human." Maria suddenly shouted back, finally finding her ground once more. Her voice was filled with bitter betrayal, fury and pride. "I am Maria Sáenz y Aizpuru. I am a vampire of two hundred and six years and I am a hunter above the cattle of humanity! And _you_!" She turned her gaze back to me. "You may throw whatever you want at me, aliens, demons," she smirked, "Your _sister_ even. But know that once I have staked your heart your alien will be torn apart and your sister's blood will spill to my fangs and it will be _all. Your. Fault_."

I pounced. I pounced before thinking about it. All I knew at that moment was that she had threatened death on my sister, my family and _I would not let that happen_. I roared like an animal, like something pulled from the bowls of the earth and my claws were already coming down on her like a swinging axe. She dodged and her claws staked into my liver and I howled in pain.

I saw a flash of cold metal but this time she was ready. I was thrown at Zim like a bag of flour and hit him with just as much grace. By the time I was on my feet I saw her over Gaz. Not on her, not fighting her, but _over_ her. When had she been knocked down? When had she lost her gun? Probably somewhere between the shocks of pain and Zim's screaming.

I saw Gaz with her knife in her hand and my feet were already hitting the pavement like a charging bull.

Maria's arm dropped. I smelled the blood before I heard her scream. Something had opened up, flesh had been torn apart and it sent fire through every inch of my body. But it was wrong, all wrong, it was blood I knew as my blood, the blood of my sister, the blood of my family.

The vampire turned just in time for me to leap onto her, claws burying themselves into her shoulders. Gaz was still on the floor and Zim was there but I couldn't focus on that anymore. I saw only my prey, my enemy, the thing I needed to _kill_.

Maria kicked me off her and rolled to her feet but I attacked again, rushing at her with the force of a speeding car, slamming into her with a shoulder tackle so hard that it propelled the both of us through the Quick Stop doors in a hailstorm of shattered glass and twisted metal.

My heart made not a single beat, yet I had never felt so alive.

Something was consuming me as we crumbled to a halt. I was moving without thinking, acting on an animal instinct I had never had before. She was doing the same, I could see it in her eyes. An animal rage, an instinctual rage, a primitive rage. Thoughts came quick and sharp and sudden. She threw a fist that connected with my jaw, breaking my teeth.

I spat them out and could distantly feel new ones growing as my fist collided with her stomach. Her claws were suddenly at my chest and raking my face. Acid and lightning tore through me, my glasses thrown asunder, but I didn't need them. Not now, not here.

She threw me into a freezer and once again glass cut through my clothes and flesh and before I could even react she was on me again, slamming my head against the inside cold steel wall.

I kicked and connected and she was gone for a breath before I was on her again. My fangs were long in my mouth, my claws bare and hungry. We collided with shelf, and another, and another. Chaos erupted around us in a hurricane of sudden, sharp, horrific violence. Her flesh was coming apart in my hands, her arms, her stomach, her throat.

But so was mine.

In my hungriest moments thought myself immortal, invincible, something beyond pain and damage. A predator on par with no other. But I had not fought something on my level like another blood drinker. As my movements slowed, my reactions faulted, I realized something terrible.

She could hurt me as much as I could hurt her.

My body burned through pain and venom and mad, chaotic battle lust but my healing couldn't keep up. For every wound that closed two more opened up. I was slowing as that devil agony crept into my limbs, my mind was becoming sluggish and my reactions slower.

Maria, however, was pressing her advantage. Her power, her absolute control of her own demonic abilities, was far in excess to mine. She grabbed me suddenly and with an almighty scream I was hurled through the air and my head collided with something sharp and cold. Something somewhere within my fog clouded head told me I had hit the slushy machine.

I was losing. I almost laughed. Just my luck after all.

My eyes creaked open and, blurrily, I could see Maria approaching me. Her uniform was in tatters and I could see she had a black tank top on. Her stomach was repairing itself, as was a large part of her neck. My own wounds felt cold to the open air. I wasn't healing fast enough, I had pushed myself too hard too fast.

I could see her fangs through her bared teeth. I could see something in her hand. A knife.

I was going to die. _Again_.

"Fool." She growled as she slid across the counter. "There are no repeats, Dib. And I had such _hopes_ for you"

Just over her shoulder I saw something blurry and green and, pushed by some unknown force that I summoned within me, I rolled onto the floor.

The air filled with light and the noise of a roaring plane engine and for all the chaos we had caused, it was nothing to this new blinding fire. Such was the pure force of the blast that the wall behind us opened up, disintegrating in parts, simply being blown asunder in others. I was thrown through it, glanced as I was by the beam of pure energy.

When it stopped the world seemed to spin rapidly from the very energy it had just witnesses and, as I tried desperately to get up I found I could only crawl through metal shards and burned concrete.

There was something before me screaming and withering. Something that had been blasted into the back wall of the building which was now riddled with cracks and tears.

Through blurred vision I could see Zim panting, his PAK legs spread out forming a square. Something was wrong with him though I couldn't tell quite what but I knew what he had done. He had poured everything into one massive blast, one last throw of the dice. Somewhere in the background I could see, no, smell the blood of Gaz against what used to be the doorway.

My body ached for blood, not out of _hunger_ but of _need_. I was on the verge of collapse, my limbs burning with pain that my body couldn't heal. I was drained of energy and strength and I had nothing left.

I looked to the floor and saw Maria. She was screaming and mostly naked and I could see bone poking through her chest which flesh was slowly crawling up over. By her body I saw the knife she had been carrying only a moment before, the blade tarnished and almost melted but still sharp enough.

I saw my chance.

I wanted to faint. I was already halfway there and I knew it. Air wouldn't come to my lungs, strength wouldn't to my limbs but I forced myself forward. Inside my wolf was almost gone, vanished or dead I didn't know but it was only me left. Only my will to finish this caused me to crawl on my knees, grab the knife with a hand torn open and raise it above the now silent Maria.

Her eyes, blackened and certainly blinded looked to me and somehow I heard her words though I saw her lips barely move.

"There is no going back."

The knife dropped along with my body, falling onto her completely. My dead weight helped it puncture Maria's chest and bury into her heart. Her eyes widened but she didn't scream or thrash or fight. I simply saw something leave her as she died and before my eyes and under my fingers and arms and legs she crumbled to nothing but dry, blackened ash.

I don't know how long I sat there, curled and crumbled in that dark back room before I heard Zim's voice gritted and strained over the sound of crackling fire and falling light fixtures.

"I have your glasses, Dib-stink, you can thank me later."

I felt something poking my shoulder and I reached a hand across to grab them, slowly, painstakingly putting them back onto my face. I still didn't get up though.

"Dib? Dib can you hear me?"

I didn't reply.

"Answer your sibling, Dib-stink."

"Zim? Gaz?" I turned to them slowly, looking up through falling tears to see them. I saw the horror in their eyes before I spoke. "I don't think it worked."

* * *

 _GASP. GASPING. HAS GASPED. Did you see that coming, kiddos? No more human Dib! He's a vampy now and always I'm afraid._

 _So yeah I want to see what you guys say before I make any comments on this chapter, just because... yeah. I have thoughts on it that'll share_ laters _._

 _Now because she's dust I've got some backstory on Maria Sáenz y Aizpuru that never got revealed. Firstly her last name came from a very famous woman named Manuela Sáenz y Aizpuru, who was a feminist, a revolutionary leader and the lover to one Simon Bolivar. He was a South American revolutionary leader and was a friend and companion of a man named Sebastian Francisco De Miranda. Now remember in chapter 4 I mentioned Dib's great ancestor to be Sebastian Francisco de Membrania?_

 _THAT'S RIGHT KIDS. In this messed up timeline MARIA KNEW DIB'S GREAT ANCESTOR and in an abandoned minor hint was his one-time lover. But that was abandoned so ignore that. Cough._

 _Maria was born in Caracas sometime around 1786 to a middle-class trading family. She lived happily until the great 1812 Caracas earthquake in which her family were all killed and their fortune destroyed. At that point she cursed God for such punishment and, after being forced to prostitute herself to survive, attempted to kill one of her would-be patrons. Said patron was_ _in fact a vampire looking for a meal_ , _but was so impressed by her burning desire to live despite what she saw as 'God's rejection' he offered her the embrace. The rest as they say is history._

 _Yes I thought of all that before she even showed up in the story. Look it helps make her a better character, okay? CHILD BACK ME UP ON THIS._

 _Anyways hope you enjoyed the chapter! The next is the last I'm afraid but I will be WRITING MORE THINGS IN THE FUTURE YAY. Later peeps!_


	12. Midnight Epilogue

_So here we are. The final chapter. Man, this has been a journey and a half to get here but I'm glad we did. Completing this is like finally shutting a door on something that I should have shut a long time ago._

 _Not that I'm saying I didn't like writing this. I loved writing Dark Investments, experimenting with the first person style has given me a new love for the format and all the challenges that come with it. It made me rediscover how much I enjoy writing dark and terrible things and basically, the last three chapters reminded me why I love writing fics in the first place._

 _Anyway, more notes at the end of this. READ ON DEAR READERS._

* * *

I didn't remember the ride home from that night. I literally couldn't, I asked Gaz to knock me out with the stun gun before I did something I regretted and she complied. I woke up in a secure room in Zim's base where I simply lay for what felt like days before finally, Zim showed up with some fresh blood for me.

The next few weeks after that were something of a blur. I remember quitting my job, cornering Mr. Morris one night after I was supposed to cover a day shift. I must have scared the living daylights out of him because he didn't even request I fill out half a dozen termination forms. He just nodded a thousand times and hurried to his car, no doubt glad to be rid of the man who almost tore his throat out.

The next step was securing a decent supply of blood. I researched a blood bank far enough away to raid without drawing too much suspicion locally. It was almost laughably easy to do so, what with my wolf no longer fighting me every step of the way. I'm not sure what exactly happened to make it become so much more cooperative within me. Perhaps the fight with Maria wore it down, or perhaps by simply accepting my fate I gained a greater control over it.

Slowly, but surely, I had begun to unravel the puzzle of what I had become, what I could _do_. I could move through shadows like a wraith, I could run like a chaeta without making a sound and I could climb a five-story building like hopping over a fence.

As long as I had blood of course.

Nothing else even came close to satisfying the hunger which tore at me in the early hours of the evening from the moment I opened my eyes. In an almost stereotypical manner I had simply stopped even getting up in the day and had turned my room into a daylight-free zone complete with mini-fridge for storing blood packs. After all, I didn't dare find out what would happen if I stuck even a toe out into the afternoon sun now that I was more than a few pints of blood into my vampirism.

As I walked back from Zim's home I continued to reflect on the sudden and rapid changes that had wrecked my world since that one fateful night. I raised a poop cola bottle to my lips and sipped away as I walked through the heavy night fog. It was damp and cold and had been for the past few weeks. Summer was coming to an end and it seemed as though everything, from the clouds in the sky to the gravel under my boots knew it.

It didn't bother me in the slightest. The cold shrouded me like a blanket, the night air seemed denser and the hunter in me appreciated the cover it provided. I could have taken my car but Zim's home was already so close, and besides, I liked walking. I had convinced Gaz it was just to save gas but I don't think she believed me. She was right not to. It was a guilty pleasure of mine to walk down the streets in the comforting dark

And of course, occasionally I would pass another making their way through the night.

I could hear their heartbeats in their chests, the blood flowing through their veins. There was something darkly appealing about the torment of it. Knowing I could easily tear them apart but holding back from doing so. Each time was, of course, the last time, next time I would take the car. And the time after that. And the time after that.

This was the last time I would walk the night, after this, only cars from now on.

I sipped again and allowed the wave of warmth to flow through me. It had been Gaz's idea to put my stolen blood into poop cola bottles. I could walk around and drink without anyone knowing, though occasionally a drop fell from my lips and I had to hurry to cover it. It was odd, on one hand I was more confident and comfortable in my own skin than I had ever been, and yet I was now terrified at the idea that I would be discovered.

Maria had mentioned hunters after all. I frowned at the memory. I had no idea what Maria had been planning to do with me once I had apparently killed someone and returned to her but I still wondered if part of it was telling me the full does-and-don'ts of being a vampire. Was there some hidden, clandestine set of rules somewhere that I wasn't obeying? Was there some master vampire holed up in some ancient castle whose final death would be the cure for my vampiric condition?

I had no idea. My own investigations in the days I took off from working with Zim hadn't come up with anything interesting, though I had begun to notice supernatural things again. The local strip mall was haunted by the ghost of a dead woman who constantly whispered, 'why me' and there was a gang of skaven collecting under the Monroeville Mall.

I had already put it on my to-do list to get rid of them before they got big enough to start murdering people.

I passed by a street light and sipped again at my can of blood as my mind turned to more mundane matters. Zim and I had to finish up that new translocator project for the Dagonites and-

I froze, stopping just on the rim of the small halo cast by the street light. Every hair on my neck was rising and I could feel a rush of tension come through me. My senses were screaming danger and my wolf was there in a second, growling within my muscles and putting every atom of my being on high alert.

"Hey friend, can ya' spare a drink for a _devilish_ thirst?"

I turned slowly, forcing myself into a state of cautious cool. There was a man leaning against the streetlight. A man who had not been there the half-second ago in which I passed it.

He was smartly dressed in some kind of greyish pinstripe suit, he even had a matching fedora making him seem like a person ripped from some nineteen-fifties fashion catalog. Slowly the man raised his head, his face previously hidden by the rim of his hat. His skin was a darkened sepia and his features square and sharp. There was a scruff running about his chin and upper lip giving him an almost roguish air. His eyes however…

"Sure." I forced a smile to my face and held the bottle out, never once breaking eye contact with him. "It's an _acquired_ taste though."

"Acquired tastes are often the most enjoyable." His accent was southern though not hick, more like a class of old south that spoke of a regal, almost prideful nature. Disarming and dangerous at the same time. He reached over and took the drink from me, giving me a small wordless toast before downing the last of it.

My eyes locked to a small drop of blood that moved down the side of his mouth. The moment he finished he tossed the bottle to one side and moved a thumb to wipe it away, his eyes fixing on me as he sucked it clean. "That's good stuff, Dib, and I should know. That was my blood bank ya' went through."

"I didn't see a name on the door." I shrugged, holding up my casual cocksure confidence in front of a deepening panic. I had barely defeated one vampire with the help of a crazy alien and my sadistic sister. This time I was alone, in the open and facing someone who was clearly pissed off at me.

Just my _damned_ luck.

To my amazement he chuckled, his hands moving back to his pockets. I almost frowned, if he was here to pick a fight he wasn't exactly acting like it. "I should get on that sometime." He paused again, his eyes quickly measuring my worth before announcing. "Call me John."

"Just John?"

He chuckled dismissively again, a sound that was getting increasingly irritating every time I heard it. He hadn't made a single move against me and yet every instinct I had, new and old, were telling me to prepare for war. It was unnerving just how eager I was to fight him, as if I was a wild dog protecting my scrap of territory. Again, I forced it down with a gulp.

"You'll find you don't want to give ya' name to much as time goes by, Dib." John smirked and I saw a flash of threatening fang. "If ya last that long of course. Most don't. Mainly 'cos they do stupid things like what y'all did to Maria."

My blood, of whatever I had left of it, froze.

"You're the talk of the town, boy. Everyone in our little _support group_ is gossipin' about ya." He looked down for a second and then to one side as if in exasperation. "Of course I don't tend to listen to gossip, thought I'd come talk to y'all myself. We creatures of the night tend to get a little _dramatic_ about these matters after all."

"Are you here to kill me?" I asked bluntly, tiring of the wordplay. My wolf was prowling, demanding a fight, a kill. It hadn't had one for so long…

"Me? No, _God_ no." John shook his head at me as if I had just suggested we go ballet dancing together. "I ain't got the time or patience for that. Though I am gonna warn y'all not to raid my blood bank again." His eyes narrowed. "I'll let that slide once, just _once_ mind you. I'm a forgivin' type."

Another shiver down my spine. Another curl of my fist. Another breath to hold back the wolf right at my lips. "Then what do you want?"

John simply stood for a moment, framed in the lamplight like a frame from a film noir movie. He raised a hand to his unshaven chin for a moment as if mulling over his answer. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he casually, almost cruelly announced. "Y'all don't know much, do ya, boy?"

Again, he threw me off guard, again I felt as though I was being sparred with by an expert swordsman. I decided to do something stupid. I decided to be honest. "I killed Maria the night after I was bitten because I thought it could give me my humanity back. So, no, _excuse me_ for not being some kind of expert on all things vampiric, though I am a general expert on the supernatural, especially aliens so-"

"By God, you talk a lot, don't ya'?" John swiftly interrupted. "I don't give a _damn_ what you think you know, I'm here to tell you what you _should_ know. Which is more than you deserve. Maria was one of our oldest but killing her bought y'all some respect, so take some _damn_ advantage of it before it runs out."

I looked on in shock. I had respect? No one had ever given me much of that before. I almost felt a prideful streak before I remembered that one of the deadliest predators on earth was standing in front of me looking mildly irritated.

He continued without my prompting, which was probably for the best. "There are five of us in this city, you make six. Twenty million humans to six vampires and we still only meet once a month. Bet you can guess why. Ya' can feel it, can't ya' boy?" He smirked at me again, this time slower, more sinister than before. "That thing in ya'. That demon crawling along ya' brain. Y'all've been wantin' to rip my throat out since ya' saw me."

I couldn't hide the astonishment from my face even if I wanted too. He had taken something I had desperately been trying to disguise and torn it wide open. My tongue skated across suddenly too-dry lips. "How-"

"We're hunters. Killers. Blood-drinkers." John's chin lowered just a little, though his eyes kept squarely on me. "We're devils, and devils don't like no company 'cept the souls they prey on." He let out a short chuckle. "We each have our little territories, of course, our little huntin' grounds. We each stick to our own unless we're lookin' for trouble. You killed Maria, which means by _right_ you get her ground."

"Which is?" I couldn't believe I was even asking, but this was as much of an education as I had hoped to get. It was a start at least.

"The Gabriel Reyes Memorial Park, most of Hopes Peake Hills up to the University and everything north 'till the Guilliman Reservoir." He cocked his head back a little as he spoke, as if once again judging me for my ignorance, "Anything after that, well, belongs to _me_." He smiled and again I saw those deadly fangs. A subtle unspoken warning.

" _Right_." Mentally I was taking as many notes as I could. Maria had prowled quite the area and now it was all under my watch, apparently. Of course, I had no intention of actually hunting anyone, though inwardly I knew I would have to find a new blood bank. Surely there had to be a hospital or something close to me, perhaps I could-

"And before y'all ask," John continued suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts, "We meet at the Calabrese Forever Cemetery on the first day of every month." He must have seen the look on my face as before I could even comment he raised a hand, "Yeah, _I know_ , it's not my idea. The oldest amongst us chose it and since she's been here the longest she says where we meet."

"It's just… a _cemetery_ though." I couldn't help myself, I grinned and shrugged. "I mean could you get any more, I don't know, _textbook_ about it?"

John just shook his head. "It's also the only truly neutral ground in the city, so don't disrespect it."

"Are there any other rules?" I eagerly asked, for a tiny moment forgetting how much danger I felt myself in and simply hungry for more lore, more information, anything to help me adjust to my new unlife. Even the crawling warning from my inner wolf was being hushed down by my innate, Dib-like appetite for knowledge. I had long since learned that the vampire hadn't devoured everything of myself. I was still me, just… a slightly _different_ me.

"Don't do anything foolish." John stated plainly. "And clean ya' messes up."

"Won't be an issue," I replied with a shrug, "I don't intend to kill anyone."

Now John laughed. He laughed suddenly, sharply and loudly. So much so that I actually let out a low growl and I had to desperately hold myself back from striking him. Was he mocking me? What was so funny about trying to save lives instead of ending them?

"Now ain't that rich!" John finally announced as he grinned toothily at me. "Ain't gonna kill no one." He sighed and folded his arms. "And how long do y'all think you'll hold out?"

"I can find blood packs. I can survive on those." I stated bluntly, fixing him with what I hoped was a sharp, determined look. "I'm not a murder."

"Y'all killed Maria." John was blunt and the blow felt heavy to my pride. "What's another name to that list? Or ten? Or a hundred?" John shrugged. "I don't even count 'em anymore. Why bother?" He again fixed me with a look that told of the passage of years. More than I knew in my life, more than many ever knew. There was a deep solidness to the vampire that I hadn't seen in Maria, who seemed more mysterious and alluring. The past seemed to drift around John like a ghost, and yet he seemed just as dangerous as Maria had ever been. He was still a wolf, but in place of Maria's psychotic hunter he seemed more patient, calculating, the type to set a trap rather than dive headlong into blood and battle.

"Lemmie give y'all a little bit of advice, Dib." He again shoved his hands into his pockets again and seem suddenly to become, well, almost human. "Don't _ignore_ what you are. Embrace it. The sooner the better."

I could have shot back with something smart and snarky, but I didn't. For just a split second I sensed something in his words that grounded them. He spoke of something he knew, not something he was assuming. He had learned a lesson, a hard one, one he felt I should learn too.

Accepting his moment of honesty, I nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"See that you do." He turned to walk away and I realized it wasn't just a silent goodbye. He had turned his back on me and my wolf knew it was a sign of pure arrogance, something my pride demanded I punish but reason told me to let it slide. For all the fury and fire my new senses commanded I was still in control. I wouldn't attack someone who had yet to do me harm, at least not until I felt I had no choice.

However, before I could move away into the ever-calling safety of the night's shadow he paused and turned his head. "Oh, one more thing. Word is that ya' had a hunter and some kinda green demon with ya'll when you killed Maria."

 _Killed Maria_. The words continued to punch holes in my stomach every time he uttered them. "And what of it? Do the rules say I can't have friends?"

The less he knew about Gaz and Zim the better, I didn't want them involved in the nightmare I had plunged myself into. However, I wasn't about to play down something that had already become general knowledge, though how he'd even found out I didn't know. Still perhaps playing to their assumptions could help. Dib the newbie vampire sounded like an easy take, but when allied with a hunter and a demon… Well, a little intimidation might go a long way.

John was silent for a moment. "You're a strange one, boy. Ya'll gonna fit _right_ in."

He walked out of the light and vanished. I was almost astonished at how seamless he was, like simply stepping off a stage. I stood for a moment on the edge of the dim, misty light, mulling his words. Fitting in. I had never fit in before. I had always assumed it was just my nature to stand separate. The savior of the world _had_ to stand alone, the tragic hero defending the ignorant. And now, now for good or evil, possibly both, I had been tipped into the darkness.

Maria had told me I would be welcomed there, that I would rise above my station. John had talked about accepting who I was, who I had become. I looked to my hands for a moment, pale skin hiding the demonic claws underneath. I had made my choices, I had chosen this path. Perhaps I would finally find myself in the dark, amongst the bloody hunters of the night.

Either way John's words played in my mind.

 _Embrace it._

My fist closed. I didn't know what my future held for me, but I knew at least now it was my choice, my will which would guide my fate. I was sick of regretting my decisions, looking back, wishing as though I could reload an old save and do it all again. I was a vampire. I was Dib Membrane. I was both. And I could still be more.

I stepped back into the shadow, allowing my form to dissipate into black smoke, a smile upon my lips. My life had been a failure, but my death, well, my death would be the _making_ of me.

* * *

 _SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. The end of Dark Investments._

 _The original story ended with Dib turning back to human but essentially vowing to be a better person overall. This version... eh, vampires are cool. I wanted to have a 'live with your choices' theme throughout the fic and keeping him a vampire seemed fitting in that light. He now has to live with that decision, but at the same time, he can use it to shape himself into someone better. That's of course if he can keep himself from murdering people, but that's down the viewer of course. Personally I think he can do it. He'd be the laughing stock of the other vamps maybe but he'd be Dib so. Yeah._

 _JOHN'S BACKSTORY. Because I'm Sid so of DAMN COURSE I gave him a backstory._

 _John (not his real name btw) was born in the early nineteen hundreds in Georgia to a poor field worker family of eight. He grew up watching his brothers and sisters be forced into poverty by a cruel and institutional racism that he knew he could never escape. His mother and father died when he was sixteen and, as his two older brothers left to find work, he had to raise his three sisters and two younger brothers alone. After a few years of scraping by he was cornered one night by men looking to find a culprit for a rape of a local white woman. They chose John. John of course fought back viciously but ultimately his efforts were futile. He was left for dead on the side of a road before a figure came to him, promising revenge, immortality, strength. John took the offer and became a vampire. The men who beat him were found torn apart in their homes and their wealth stolen. With the wealth John moved his family across to California, relying on them to care for him while he slept as he hunted for food and supplies at night. Slowly however he began to realize he couldn't keep protecting them,_ eventually _he knew he would turn his bloodlust on them. After almost murdering his sister one night in rage and thirst he left them for good and never looked back._

 _So when he tells Dib to embrace his vampirism he knows what he's talking about. He tried holding onto his human side and failed, and probably suspects Dib will do too. How he found out about Gaz and Zim btw... well, that's a little power that only the oldest (who is over 350 years old at least, I didn't think much further than that) has._

 _ANYWAY. So this is the end of this story. What's next for_ ol _' Siddy? BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA. Yeah I know I said Gravity Falls but my new idea for MHA is just... it calls. I must obey._

 _Thank you all for reading and reviewing and being the best audience ever. Bye for_ _now guys, and remember, if someone offers you eternal life, check the fine print first._


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